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Rantō (Dutch Lantern) from the series Yumeji's Masterpieces

Spring Glance from the Magazine The Ladies Graphic

Japanese Color Woodblock Print 

Rantō (Dutch Lantern)

from the series Yumeji’s Materpieces

by Takehisa Yumeji, 1938-1939

(after an earlier 1917 design)

Itoguruma (Spinning Wheel) from the series Yumeji's Masterpieces

IHL Cat. #1529

About This Print

One of a number of posthumous prints created from Yumeji's illustrations by the Tokyo-based publisher Katō Junji.  This design was originally made for the below 1917 cover of the musical score for Matoori Nagayo's Rantō Kōta (Song of the Lantern), published by Senow Ongaku Shuppansha.

Source: Takehisa Yumeji, Nozomi Naoi, et. al., Brill, 2015, p. 15.
"This woodblock print exemplifies Yumeji's lifelong interest in the exotic and foreign, as manifest in the recurring imagery of port cities.  Here, a woman dressed in a vivid red kimono with shibari-dyed patterns and floral motifs casually plays a shamisen. A large paper lantern hangs behind here, with a view of the bay in the distance."

竹久夢二 《セノオ楽譜 no.44「蘭燈」》1917年6月9日発行

About the Series "Yumeji's Masterpieces"

Source: Takehisa Yumeji, Nozomi Naoi, et. al., Brill, 2015, p. 133, p. 135.

"The majority of Yumeji’s woodblock-printed designs were released after his death in 1934.  The publisher who was instrumental in having Yumeji’s work recognized was the Tokyo-based Katō Junji (1885-1961).  During the late 1930s and early 1940s.  Katō and his team of artisan block-cutters and printers at the Katō Print Workshop (Katō Print Workshop) (Katō Hanga Kenkyūjo) reused and recalled numerous famous paintings, music scores and watercolours for series of prints and postcards."

"The thirty woodblock prints in this set are a selection of the most popular cover designs from the over 270 that the artist produced of Seno music scores.  Katō Junji personally compiled the set and it reflects what he believed was representative of Yumeji’s artistic diversity, ranging from the portrayal of beautiful women and landscapes to this fascination with Western artistic styles."

Print Details

 IHL Catalog #1529
 Title
 Dutch Lantern
 Rantō 蘭燈 - as written in the top of the left margin
 Series
 Yumeji’s Masterpieces
 夢二名作集 Yumeji meisakushū
 Artist
 Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934)
 Signature
 unsigned
 Seal
artist's comma-shaped (tomoe) seal
 Publication Date originally 1938-1939
 Edition unknown - prints from the series were reprinted an unknown number of times during the life of the publisher
 Publisher
Katō Hanga Kenkyūj加藤版画研究所
(family name Katō Junji 加藤潤二)

 版権i所有  加藤潤二 
copyright owned by Hanken shoyū Katō Junji
[Marks: pub. ref. 219; seal not shown]
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition excellent - several spots light foxing
 Genre fukusei hanga
 Miscellaneous
 Format ōban
 H x W Paper 13 5/8 x 10 in. (34.6 x 25.4 cm)
 H x W Image 12 1/8 x 8 11/16  in. (30.8 x 22.1 cm)
 Collections This Print
 Reference Literature
Takehisa Yumeji, Nozomi Naoi, et. al., Brill, 2015, fig. 1.5, p. 15.