About This Print

Source: website of the artist's grandchildren http://www.unichihiratsuka.com/recollections_of_a_master_artist and as footnoted.

Penelope Moore, granddaughter of Hiratsuka Un'ichi, commenting on this print wrote "This was a carousel horse outside a party goods store on Wisconsin Ave and Van Ness St."¹  Further elaborating, Penelope remembered being with her grandfather when he sketched this print in their Washington, D.C. neighborhood: "Occasionally, when he was in a patient mood, he took my sister or me, and brought a collapsable 3-legged stool, easel, and either canvasses or sketchpads.... Sidwell Friends, Sullivan Toys, the Zebra Room, G.C. Murphy, Giant Foods, the Savings and Loan Bank which was recently a Starbucks, the Johnson Flower Shop... all of these were part of our weekly hauntings. My mother used to buy flowers at Johnson's for classes or for my grandfather to draw. There was a small old farmhouse next to the Flower Center, right across from the deep dish Chicago Pizzaria - This was a small shop that sold party goods, and given the absence of a sign or any palpable activity, I don't think they did much business. An old carousel horse on the porch had caught Ojichan's eye, and over a period of several hours, he sketched it with gusto and it became one of my favorite woodblocks."

¹ E-mail received by seller from Penelope Moore during print's auction window.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#647
Title	Toy Horse
Series
Artist	Hiratsuka Un'ichi (1895-1997)
Signature	Un-ichi Hiratsuka (in pencil bottom margin)
Seal	artist's seal
Date	1963
Edition
Publisher	self-published
Printer	the artist
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - mat line around image; margins unevenly trimmed; two spots verso from previous mounting
Genre	sosaku hanga (creative print)
Miscellaneous
Format
H x W Paper	5 1/2 x 7 7/8 (14 x 20 cm)
H x W Image	3 5/8 x 6 1/8 (9.2 x 15.6 cm)
Collections This Print
Reference Literature