About This Print
Miyata shares Ritsurin Park (Ritsurin Garden) with us, blocking out areas in his unique pallet. This print is number 1 from volume 4, Shikoku, from the artist's 240 print, 12 volume compendium Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan.
Ritsurin KōenRitsurin Garden/Park (栗林公園, Ritsurin Kōen) is a large, historic garden, in Takamatsu, Japan. It was completed in 1745 as a private strolling garden and villa for the local feudal lords, and opened to the public in 1875. Ritsurin is one of the largest strolling gardens in Japan, and a major tourist attraction for Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku, the smallest of the four main islands of Japan.
Ritsurin Garden lies in a former river bed on the east side of Mt. Shiun. Numerous ponds and small artificial hills dot the garden. The southern portion is in traditional Japanese style, with historic teahouses and numerous shaped pine trees. After becoming a public garden in 1875, the north portion underwent Western-style redesigns, and a large museum (currently the multipurpose Commerce and Industry Promotion Hall) and folk craft galleries were built in the center of the garden. For a time, the garden even housed a zoo and swimming pool, since closed and removed. The garden covers 750,000 square meters.
About the Series "Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints - Scenery of Japan"
Consisting of twelve volumes, each containing twenty woodblock prints depicting scenic locations around Japan, Miyata spent fourteen years from 1970 to 1984 producing the series, which he carved and printed himself in a limited edition of 100 prints each. Most, if not all, the places depicted were actually visited by the artist. Miyata followed this massive series of 240 prints with a printed compendium of the prints titled Miyata Saburō mokuhanga zenshū 宮田三郎木版画全集 (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Miyata Saburō), release in limited edition in five volumes in 1983-1984.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2085 |
| Title |  Ritsurin Park (Garden) |
| Series | Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan 宮田三郎木版画集―日本の風景・四国 第四集 Miyata Saburō Mokuhanga shū Nihon no fūkei・Shikoku, Collection Number 4 |
| Artist | Miyata Saburō (1924-2013) |
| Signature | none |
| Seal |  |
| Publication Date | c. 1974 |
| Edition |  |
| Publisher | the artist in conjunction with the Tokyo Print Research Institute Tokyo Hanga Kenkyūsho 東京版画研究所 |
| Printer | self-printed |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - paper wrinkling likely from printing process |
| Genre | sosaku-hanga (creative print) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | dai-ōban |
| H x W Paper | 15 1/2 x 20 1/8 in. (39.4 x 51.1 cm) |
| H x W Image | 12 3/8 x 16 in. (31.4 x 40.6 cm) |
| Collections This Print | |
| Reference Literature |
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