About This Print

Hanjirō began painting horses at about the time he moved to the city of Yame in 1931. "He would head out to Aso, Unzen, and other parts of Kyushu in search of a horse that appealed to him, sketch it, and then work on the painting back in his studio in Yame. He was enthralled by the forms of horses, bathed in the sunlight, dappled with so many colors."¹

click on image to enlarge colophon

Transcription and Translation of Colophon 坂本繁二郎  復刻木版画集 (Fukkoku mokuhan gashū) [Woodblock reproduction collection] 「月」「馬」 ["Moon" "Horse"] 限定 280部 [limit 280 copies] 各作品に画室印と醍定番号入り [each work has the art studio seal and is numbered] 昭和年7月20日 発刊 [Published July 20, 1983] 用紙            生漉奉書 [type of paper Kizuki hōsho*] 寸法            画面 45x37.5cm [Dimensions image area - Moon]                         54.5x46cm [Dimensions image area - Horse] 技法            「月」 木版39色摺 ["Moon" woodblock 39 color printings]                     「馬」 木版35色摺 ["Horse" woodblock 35 color printings] 摺帥             小池清次 [printer Koji Kiyoji?] 製本             下島大完堂 [bookmaking Shimojima Daikandō] 発行              岡本工房 [publisher Okamoto studio] 製作監修        坂本繁二郎研究所 [under the supervision of the Sakamoto                     Hanjirō institute] *an unbleached, natural-colored paper made from kōzo, a plant related to mulberry. Kizuki hōsho is very strong and flexible, and has a somewhat rough and porous texture; it is the same type of paper used by printmakers of the Edo period.