| Notes (this edition)?: |
| The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies:
Tuesday, 11 October 2005
ARTIST: Rakuzan.
SIZE: (16 by 22 ins)
SERIES: Birds and flowers of Japan.
DATE: ca. 1930
DESCRIPTION: .
CONDITION: Horizontal centre fold, otherwise fine impression, colour and condition.
NOTE: These extraordinarily exquisite kacho-ga are a technical tour-de-force. Multiple woodblocks were cut and up to 240 separate printing operations were performed in creating each design. No expense was spared in creating the effect Rakuzan wanted - each sheet is embellished with metallic pigments, principally silver, gold, and bronze and occasionally gofun (Chinese white, derived from crushed oyster shell). The series comprises 100 images, and was published in a limited edition of 200. The designs were only available by private subscription, and were issued two per month commencing 24th April, 1929, I.e. with a projected run of 50 months. The Kyoto publisher was obscure. In an insert to one of the monthly releases, Rakuzan complains of the difficulty of finding block-carvers and printers adequate to the job of reproducing his technically complex designs and apologises to his subscribers for intermittent delays. |
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