About This Print
"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."
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 Kenkyūjo 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. |