Artist’s monogram FC, followed by Tokyo 1915, published by Watanabe Shozaburo
15 1/4 by 6 5/8 in., 38.8 by 16.8 cm
In the spring of 1915, Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Capelari visited the print shop of Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) in search of reproduction woodblock prints for inspiration. Capelari was an Austrian artist who had been living in Asia since 1910, unable to return to Europe because of the ongoing World War I. He had brought some painting samples with him to the shop, and Watanabe encouraged him to design works to potentially be made into prints. Watanabe had been looking for an artist trained in Western-style painting with whom he could work on a new type of color woodblock print, but rooted in the traditions of Japanese ukiyo-e. Apparently he had already been turned down by Japanese artists, such as the Paris-trained painter Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924), who were not interested in sullying their reputations in the fine art world by producing popular or decorative art. Foreigners in Japan would have been less burdened by the commercial implications of Watanabe’s vision and had little to risk by participating in his experiment. Capelari accepted brushes and reproduction prints from Watanabe, and shortly thereafter the two began collaborating on producing woodblock prints. Within one year they completed 12 designs on themes referencing ukiyo-e, including bird and flower, landscape, and figural subjects.
To some, these prints could be considered the first shin-hanga (‘new prints’). Certainly it was the first time that Watanabe successfully recruited an artist from outside the traditional master-student system. And although many of the designs and subjects resonate with classic ukiyo-e, at the same time, the modern (or Western) influences are evident. He also used a higher quality paper that he had rarely used for his previous print productions, a financial investment indicative of Watanabe’s commitment to shin-hanga. Watanabe pushed the printers he was working with to go against their own training and allow the marks made by the baren and speckles of paper to show through which emphasizes the textures of the woodblock printing process.
Although he was happy with his collaborations with Capelari, Watanabe needed something more ‘Japanese’ for both his export and domestic market. He approached another young artist, Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921), one of the top graduates of the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko (Tokyo School of Fine Arts). Here was a Japanese artist who was trained in Western-style painting, who happened to be a very serious student of classical ukiyo-e (having written monographs about three important artists). Watanabe convinced Goyo to collaborate on a single print of a beauty in 1915, but apparently Goyo, trained in the Western style with emphasis on individual creativity, was not comfortable with working with a publisher (perhaps Watanabe in particular) and opted to go his own way and self-publish thereafter
References:
Helen Merritt, Points of Contrast, 1993, pp. 32-35, no. 7, and p. 63
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, pp. 45-46
Yokohama Museum of Art, Eyes Towards Asia: Ukiyo-e Artists from Abroad, 1996, p. 67, no. 70-a
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin-hanga: Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 22, no. 1-28; pp. 265-267 (on Watanabe & Capelari) Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 20, no. 6
Eight Views of Omi: The Floating Pavilion at Katada
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Katada Ukimido)
Title date and signature at upper right: Omi hakkei no uchi Katada ukimido Taisho nananen gogatsu Shinsui (Eight Views of Omi, Ukimido at Katada, Taisho 7 [1918], May, Shinsui), with limited edition publisher’s seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkei Katada, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai gojuyon ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi, Katada, limited edition of 200, no. 54), with publisher’s seals, hanmoto (publisher), and Watanabe, 1918
aiban tate-e 12 3/4 by 8 3/4 in., 32.3 by 22.3 cm
In 1917 Watanabe and Shinsui embarked on a print series rooted in tradition, the landscape theme of Eight Views of Omi (Omi Hakkei), which was adapted from a classical Chinese landscape grouping, Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang. The Japanese version is a collection of eight famous views of the scenic area around Lake Biwa, paired with eight poetic references: Clear Breeze at Awazu, Evening Glow at Seta, Evening Snow at Mount Hira, Night Rain at Karasaki, Autumn Moon at Ishiyama, Returning Sails at Yabase, Evening Bell at Miidera, and this one, Wild Geese Descending at Katada. The ‘Eight Views’ grouping was a popular subject for numerous print series in the Edo Period (1600-1858); the annals of ukiyo-e are replete with variations, puns and parodies referencing the general framework provided by the poetic theme. In this composition Shinsui dispenses with the traditional ‘Wild Geese Descending’ that are usually depicted in an expansive view over Lake Biwa under a clear sky, and instead illustrates the hexagonal Ukimido Pavilion, ‘floating’ on the lake while enveloped by falling snow.
This classic series was perhaps Shinsui and Watanabe’s most creative, experimental and important collaboration. While adhering to the traditional subject, artist, carver, printer and publisher explored the possibilities of the woodblock print medium.
References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 169
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 33, pl. 12
Reigle Stephens, Amy, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-Century Japanese prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 183, no. 234
Lawrence Smith, Modern Japanese Prints, 1912-1989, 1994, cat. 34, pl. 35 Nihon no hanga II 1911-1920, Chiba City Museum of Art, 2000, p. 113, pl. 223-2
Reigle Newland, Amy, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 107, no. 94
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 070, no. 2-36
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, p. 109 cat. no. 55 Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 61, no. 94
Twelve Images of Modern Beauties: Cotton Kimono
(Shin bijin juni sugata: Yukata)
Dated and signed at upper left, Taisho juichinen shoka, Shinsui (Taisho 11 [1922], early spring, Shinsui) with artist’s red rectangular seal Ito; the round publisher’s seal, Watanabe, at lower left corner; with two collector’s seals on verso, Koshikawa and the other unread; and limited edition seal, Nihyaku mai kagiri zeppan, dai yonjuhachi ban (200 limited edition, number 48), 1922
17 1/8 by 10 3/8 in., 43.4 by 26.5 cm
The publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) began producing woodblock prints by Ito Shinsui when Shinsui was a still a student of Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878-1972) in 1916. It was only in February of the same year that Watanabe had finally released his first large-scale bijin-ga with Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921), a painstaking process which had taken ten months to complete. In the summer of 1922, Watanabe and Shinsui began production on this series, Twelve Figures of Modern Beauties. Although they had already completed thirty prints together by that time, many were chuban-sized landscapes, and only six were bijin-ga.
The series Twelve Figures of New Beauties (also translated as ‘Twelve Images of Modern Beauties’) was issued from June 1922 in editions of 200, with one print released per month and distributed by the Ukiyo-e Kenkyukai (Association of Ukiyo-e Research). The first large bijin-ga series of shin-hanga, it was meant to capture a ‘new’ beauty, but that didn’t necessarily mean modern. Like the shin-hanga genre itself, the ‘new beauty’ was rooted in the traditional beauty (with customary clothes), but the variety of printing styles and techniques were modern.
References:
Dorothy Blair, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, no. 11
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 183
Watanabe Tadasu, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 60, pl. 34
Lawrence Smith, Modern Japanese Prints, 1912-1989, 1994, cat. 35, pl. 34
Amy Reigle Newland and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Emage: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 54, pl. 32
Nihon no hanga III 1921-1930, Toshi to onna to hikari to kage to (Japanese Prints III, 1921-1930: Cities and Women, Lights and Shadows), Chiba City Museum of Art, 2001, p. 36, pl. 2-3
Laura J. Mueller, Strong Women, Beautiful Men: Japanese Portrait Prints from the Toledo Museum of Art, 2005, p. 90
Allen Hockley, ed., The Women of Shin Hanga: The Judith and Joseph Barker Collection of Japanese Prints, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2013, pp. 176-177, no. 38 Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 29, no. 24
Abe Shuichi, Prints of Japanese Beauties in the 20th Century, 2022, p. 59, no. 48
Signed and dated at upper right corner, Taisho rokunen gogatsu (Taisho 6 [1917], 5th month), Shinsui, with artist’s seal Shinsui, and publisher’s rectangular seal Watanabe, publisher’s limited edition seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Hideri ame, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai hachi ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Passing Rain, limited edition of 200, number 8), 1917
17 1/8 by 11 5/8 in., 43.5 by 29.6 cm
In the early to mid 1910s, the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) began working on developing a new type of modern print that utilized Japanese printing techniques while incorporating Western influences. He initially approached professional Japanese artists who were Western-trained, but found they were reluctant to get involved with his experiment with old-fashioned ukiyo-e style commercial printing. Eventually a foreigner found him, Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Capelari (1884-1950), an ex-pat who was intrigued by the idea, designing 12 works with Watanabe in just one year. Watanabe was then able to use the Capelari prints to convince the artist Hashiguch Goyo (1880-1921) to give it a try; but Goyo decided to publish independantly after producing just one work together. Finally, in 1916, Watanabe discovered a painting by a young artist, Ito Shinsui (1898-1972), in an exhibition and offered to publish it. The result was a success and the edtion of 100 quickly sold-out, leading to one more print in 1916 and thirteen the following year, including this extremely rare print, Passing Rain.
In the early years of working together, Shinsui followed the old style of print production, submitting a preparatory drawing (hanshita) or sketch which was used to make a keyblock. In the introduction to the 1992 catalogue raisonné, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, Watanabe Shozaburo’s son Tadasu describes the cooperation between artist and publisher, recounting how Shinsui was eager to utilize printing techniques to bring out his design, and Watanabe’s role of pushing the printers to improve the prints with their own skills. These early collaborations by Shinsui with the carvers and printers while guided by Watanabe laid the groundwork for the emerging genre of what would come to be known as shin hanga, and inspire other artists, most importantly, Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), to join the movement.
This print was issued in two variants, one in which the beauty holds a blue umbrella and her collar is turquoise blue-green; and another with the umbrella is brown and her collar is royal blue. According to Koyama Shuko, Shinsui was present during the printing process of this work, collaborating with the printer on the coloration of the blocks. While both versions are exceedingly rare, there are extant impressions of the two variants with hand-numbered seals on verso indicating the editions were limited to 200 each. Presumably, and understandably, Watanabe felt so confident in the potential popularity of the design he was willing to produce a total of 400 impressions, a sizable investment in this young artist Shinsui, who was still a teenager at the time. No doubt his insticts were well served, but the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed huge areas of Tokyo including the Watanabe print shop and all of its inventory, which accounts for the scarcity of both versions of this print.
References:
Lawrence Smith, The Japanese Print Since 1900: Old Dreams and New Visions, British Museum 1983, p. 45, no. 31 (brown umbrella)
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 28, no. 9-B (blue umbrella), p. 29, no. 9-A (brown umbrella)
Amy Reigle Newland and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 52, no. 30-1 (brown umbrella); no. 30-2 (blue umbrella)
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2004, p. 100, no. 86 (brown umbrella)
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 063, no. 2-26 (blue umbrella), no. 2-27 (brown umbrella) Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 27, no. 20 (brown umbrella)
Abe Shuichi, Prints of Japanese Beauties in the 20th Century, 2022, p. 58, no. 46 (brown umbrella)
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 1929.633
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession no. S2003.8.255
Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series: Kiyomizu Temple in the Rain
(Tabi miyage dainishu: Ame no Kiyomizu-dera)
Signed Hasui with artist’s pre-earthquake seal Kawase, publisher’s round Watanabe seal in lower right corner, the series title cartouche, Tabi miyage dai nishu on the left-hand margin, followed by the print title, Ame no Kiyomizu-dera, and dated below, Taisho ju, ni, nijugo (Taisho 10 [1921], February 25)
oban yoko-e 10 3/8 by 15 in., 26.2 by 38.2 cm
According to Koyama Shuko in Water and Shadow, this landscape is also a portrait of Kawase Hasui (p. 43).
References:
Dorothy Blair, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, no. 54
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu, 1979, p. 32, no. 62
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, p. 310, no. 62
Shimada City Museum, Kawase Hasui, The Landscape Woodblock Prints of the Taisho and Showa Periods, 2005, p. 40, no. 50
Abe Publishing, Kawase Hasui Woodblock Prints, 2009, p. 33, no. 39
Chiba City Museum of Art, Kawase Hasui, 2013, p.53, no 45
Carolyn M. Putney, Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, 2013, p. 120, cat. no. 58
Kendall H. Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, p. 42 (deail); p. 54 (full page detail); p. 118, cat. no. IV.61
Koyama Shuko, Kawase Hasui’s Travels and Travel Scenes: An Investigtion from the Viewpoint of Taisho-Era Tourism, in, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, pp. 39-47 Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 75, no. 118
Dancing at the New Carlton Cafe in Shanghai
(Odori Shanhai Nyukoruton shoken)
dated within the image at upper left, 1924, followed by artist’s seal Koka, published by Yamamura Koka Hanga Kankokai (Publishing Committee for Yamamura Koka’s Prints), 1924
dai oban tate-e 16 1/4 by 11 3/8 in., 41.3 by 29 cm
Although born with the name Yoshitaka, this Tokyo artist used the art name Koka for paintings and usually employed the art name Toyonari for woodblock prints. He studied with Ogata Gekko (1859-1920) and graduated in 1907 from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in Japanese-style painting. In 1916, publisher Watanabe Shozaburo saw one of Koka’s actor paintings exhibited at Inten and asked to make a print from it. Watanabe subsequently published three more actor prints by Koka, the last of which was issued in 1919. From 1920, Koka primarily self-published with the Yamamura Koka Hanga Kankokai (Publishing Committee for Yamamura Koka Prints).
In 1924 Koka published Dancing at the New Carlton Cafe as part of an untitled set of 10 prints which included landscapes, beautiful women, and bird and flower subjects. The dynamic composition of the interior view holds a unique place among all of Koka’s prints and, indeed, among shin hanga prints in general. It believed to be the first moga (modern girl) woodblock print and depicts taxi dancers at a trendy Shanghai hotel café. Displaying all the classic emblems of the moga, Koka’s women wear fashionable Western-style clothes of the Roaring Twenties, sport bobbed hair, makeup, and jewelry, and are enjoying cocktails. Although the precise ethnicity of the dancers is unclear, Shanghai had a large influx of White Russian refugees in 1922 after the Russian Civil War and it is well-documented that many such Russian women became taxi dancers in Shanghai’s famous cafés and nightclubs.
Koka employs bright, vivid colors to illustrate a nightlife scene full of gin, jazz, and carnal abandon. The woman’s fan is richly printed with a gold metallic, and its presence and the cut of the women’s clothes suggest that it is a hot summer evening. The background is also covered in a thin layer of shimmering mica, which further adds to the richness of the print while simultaneously conveying images of figures dancing in a cloud of cigarette smoke and bright lights.
Until recently this print had been erroneously known as ‘Dancing at the New Carlton Hotel in Shanghai’– a hotel which apparently did not exist. In Seven Masters, Marks identifies the location as the Carlton Cafe, as well as illustrates an image of a painting (whereabouts unknown) of the same subject which Koka had exhibited at the 10th Japan Art Institute Experiments Exhibition in March 1924, and again at the Osaka City Art Association’s first exhibition in May of the same year.
References:
Amy Newland and Chris Uhlenbeck, Ukiyo-e to Shin Hanga, 1990, p. 223
Kendall H. Brown, Light in Darkness: Women in Japanese Prints of Early Showa (1926-1945), 1996. p. 67, cat. no. 74
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 91, no. 115
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2004, p. 85, no. 70
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 104, no. 3-5
Chris Uhlenbeck, Broad Strokes and Fine Lines: The Dual Tradition in 20th Century Japanese Printmaking, Nihon no hanga, Amsterdam, 2009 (cover)
Allen Hockley, ed., The Women of Shin Hanga: The Judith and Joseph Barker Collection of Japanese Prints, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2013, pp. 190-191, no. 44
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, pp. 70-71, fig. 8 (print), fig. 9 (postcard of missing painting), pp. 207-213 (on print publishing)
Marije Jansen, Japan: Modern, Japanese Prints from the Elise Wessels Collection, 2016, p. 104; cat. no. 104
Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p 153, no. 272
Abe Shuichi, Prints of Japanese Beauties in the 20th Century, 2022, p. 90, no. 131
(inv. no. 10-6323)
Eight Views of Omi: Ishiyamadera Temple
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Ishiyamadera)
Signed, dated and titled at lower left corner, Omi hakkei no uchi Ishiyamadera Taisho rokunen junigatsu Shinsui (Eight views of Omi, Ishiyamadera, Taisho 6 [1917], December, Shinsui), with limited edition publisher’s seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkei Ishiyama, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai jukyu ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi Ishiyama, limited edition of 200, no. 19), with publisher’s seals, hanmoto (publisher), and Watanabe, 1917
aiban tate-e 12 5/8 by 8 1/2 in., 32 by 21.6 cm
With the exception of the first print he published with Watanabe in 1916, Before the Mirror (Taikyo), which was based on a painting, in the early years of their collaboration, Shinsui worked in the old style of print production, submitting a hanashita (preparatory drawing) or sketch which was used to make a keyblock. In the introduction to the catalogue raisonné, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, Watanabe Shozaburos son Tadasu describes the cooperation between artist and publisher, recounting how Shinsui was eager to utilize printing techniques to bring out his design, and Watanabes role of pushing the printers to improve the prints with their own skills (pp. 6-11).
References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 173
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, pp. 6-11; and p. 35, pl. 15
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 185, pl. 238
Amy Reigle Newland, ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 108 pl. 97
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 070, no. 2-35
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, p. 108 cat. no. 53 Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 60, no. 91
Signed in sumi ink, Yoshida, with red artist’s seal Hiroshi, and jizuri (self-printed) seal on left margin, followed by the date, Taisho jugonen saku (made in Taisho 15 [1926]), followed by the title, Kumoizakura, with English title in pencil on the bottom margin, Kumoi cherry trees, and pencil signature Hiroshi Yoshida, with carver’s seal of Maeda Yujiro (1889-1957), ca. 1926
Print: 23 by 29 1/8 in., 58.5 by 74 cm
Frame: 29 3/8 by 35 3/8 in., 74.5 by 90 cm
This print from 1926 is based on a large watercolor painting, Memories of Japan (71 by 94 cm.), which was first exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1899 and purchased shortly thereafter by the museum through a special public subscription which raised an impressive $500 for the acquisition, the equivalent of at least $20,000 today. The subject portrays the daughters of the artist Kawai Shinzo (1867-1936) underneath a famous cherry tree known as Kumoizaki (Kumoi Cherry Tree) which was located in the scenic area of Yoshino in Nara. Yoshida may have been inspired by a similarly composed image of the tree found in volume 8 of Miyoshi no maki (Miyoshi’s Scroll [or album]) of black and white photographs published in 1898 by the pioneering photographer, Mitsumura Toshimo (1877-1955). Some 27 years after Yoshida sold the painting to the museum he revisited the subject and adapted it for a large format print, simplifying the composition slightly by reducing the number of figures from five to two and removing foliage and grasses from the foreground.
Of the 257 prints that Yoshida produced in his lifetime, only eight were as oversized as the grand scale of this ambitious work which measures nearly 30 inches wide. In order to produce such an unusually large woodblock print, Yoshida divided the composition into three separate sections- a technical feat which is impossible to detect on the end result. During the printing process block alignment (difficult enough with standard oban sized prints) was maintained by three printers working together to handle the large sheets of paper. The strength and stamina required to print across the broad surface necessitated that printers worked in shifts that changed every five sheets. Given the printing challenges it is not surprising Dorothy Blair records in the 1930 Toledo Museum of Art exhibition catalogue that Yoshida produced only 50 impressions of this monumental print.
The gradation of color in the background on this impression, with pale pink along the horizon and a very pale blue sky darkening to pale grey at the top, compares closely with the mood of the original watercolor and the impression in the collection of the Fukuoka Museum of Art. In an interesting contrast, the impression included in the 1930 Toledo exhibition has more saturated blue in the sky, which seems to be a deliberate adjustment by Yoshida and his printers. One should note that both have retained pink in the cherry blossoms, and as such, the differences in the coloration of the sky is not a result of fading (and the hue of blue untilized is generally a very stable pigment). It is more likely that the alternate coloration on the Toledo version may have been selected or even produced specifically to appeal to the perceived American taste for brighter colors, as several other works by various artists included in the show are found to display much more intense variant palettes than earlier known impressions. Taking those differences into consideration, this impression, arguably more in tune with Japanese aesthetics, was likely produced earlier than the example in Toledo, presumably at the original time of production in 1926.
References:
Mitsumura Toshimo, Miyoshi no maki: vol. 8, Tabi no iezuto, Mitsumura Shashinbu (Mitsumura Photography Company), 1898, image no. 5 (Kumoizakura, photograph)
Dorothy Blair, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, cat. no. 298
Ogura Tadao, Yoshida Hiroshi zenhangashu (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida), 1987, p. 80, no. 76 Yoshida Hiroshi: Woodblock Print Exhibition, Kushigata Shunsen Museum of Art, 1994, cat. no. 62 Hiroshi Yoshida Exhibition: A Master of Modern Landscape Painting, Fukuoka Museum, 1996, p. 138, no. 119 Yoshida Hiroshi Exhibition, MOA Museum of Art, 2000, p. 73, no. 93 A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, cat. no. 3 Memories of Japan watercolor, cat. no. 15 Kumoi Cherry Trees print from Fukuoka Museum of Art
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 296, cat. 305 Yoshida Hiroshi: A Retrospective, Chiba City Museum of Art, 2016, p. 178, no. 4-77
Europe Series: Wetterhorn- trial print
(Oushu: Uettehorun)
The title printed faintly on the lower right margin in katakana, Uttehorun, signed in sumi ink within the composition at lower left, Yoshida, with red artist’s seal Hiroshi, followed by the publisher’s circular seal, Watanabe, 1925
dai oban tate-e 15 1/2 by 10 7/8 in., 39.4 by 27.5 cm
This print, bearing the round seal of the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), reveals a previously confused aspect of how Yoshida established himself as an independent printmaker. It is well understood that Yoshida’s first woodblock print, The Sacred Garden in Meiji Shrine, was a commissioned by the Meiji Shrine Support Association in 1920 and was produced by Watanabe, the innovative publisher who had recently begun establishing a new form of Japanese printmaking that came to be known as shin hanga (lit. ‘new prints’). This project connected the two, artist and publisher, both creative forces of nature, and together they produced seven additional works from 1921 to 1922 which Watanabe published and offered for sale in his print shop. At this point Yoshida was already a successful painter, and printmaking was not a primary focus. Then on September 1, 1923, a major earthquake with devastating fires in the aftermath destroyed Watanabe’s premises, including the unsold inventory and original woodblocks for the work of Yoshida and the other print artists in Watanabe’s circle. ravel savvy Yoshida, having gone on two major journeys around the world in his younger days, quickly organized a trip to go to abroad with his wife Fujio (1887-1987), a talented painter herself, with a mission of raising funds for their artistic community. They departed for the United States in December 1923, bringing with them 62 paintings by fellow-members of their painting group, Taiheiyo gakai (Japan Pacific Painting Society), and 42 prints published by Watanabe that survived the conflagration. Both spoke excellent English, and they worked out an itinerary as they went along from city to city, utilizing their extensive contacts among collectors and curators across the country to arrange pop-up selling exhibitions at as many venues as possible. Local art critics often favorably reviewed the paintings, however, it was the woodblock prints that sold well. Hiroshi and Fujio also sketched and painted prodigiously, producing oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and sketches, amassing a quantity of source material to draw upon in the future. Over a year later in April 1925 they departed from the United States to the United Kingdom and then from there they continued their tour of Europe, visiting the Alps, Lugano, Venice and Greece.
Having appreciated first-hand the potential market for shin hanga type woodblock prints, upon his return to Japan in August 1925 Yoshida began exploring producing new woodblock prints. Certainly, the most logical course of action would have been to approach Watanabe with whom he had already collaborated. In 1987, Ogura recorded that Yoshida hired the master block carver Yamagisihi Kazue (1893-1966) for two prints (Fishes of Honolulu and El Capitan), and then Maeda Yujiro (1889-1957) for the rest of the United States and Europe series. However, in the catalogue for the 1930 exhibition of shin hanga at the Toledo Museum of Art, Blair confirms that while Yamagish carved the blocks for the first two prints, she clarifies that Murakami (dates unknown) carved the blocks for Moraine Lake, and the remainder from 1925 are credited to Watanabe–who likely hired Maeda Yujiro. It is not recorded who printed the blocks, presumably Watanabe initially provided production assistance with his printers as well.
This print depicting the Wetterhorn peek in the Swiss Alps may have been one of the very earlier compositions that they worked on (although it is generally listed as the 8th released that year), and the seal in the lower left corner confirms Watanabe’s involvement. The final version released by Yoshida independently in 1925 features a color palette that is much more developed than this test print. Yoshida added darker saturation of color on the face of the mountain, trees, and shrubs in the foreground; the sky is darker blue with clearer definition of the clouds; and the glacier winding between the hills to the right is lighter, without the blue highlights.
There are at least two other extant early trial prints from the Europe Series bearing the Watanabe seal. Another impression of Wetterhorn with the publisher seal found in the collection of the Ringling Museum of Art has darker saturation of color than this print but not as much shadow and contrast with the glacier as Yoshida’s final version. In addition, an impression of Lugano offered at Christie’s New York in 2024 with the Watanabe seal was particularly interesting because it was printed in a style similar to a typical Watanabe production with an emphasis on texture and layered gomazuri (sesame seed printing) color while Yoshida’s final version of Lugano has more evenly applied and brighter saturated color. Yoahida signed in sumi ink and sealed all three of these examples with Watanabe seals, indicating they met with some level of his approval. However, at some point he must have decided that he wanted more control of the process and he decided to set up his own printing studio, which allowed him to experiment unchecked by the constraints of a publisher. A comparison of impressions of almost any of his early designs will reveal numerous tweaks and variations on how the color blocks were handled–the creative opportunities for a talented colorist such as Yoshida must have been liberating. From this point forward, final versions of almost all Hiroshi Yoshida prints produced in his lifetime have a jizuri (‘self-printed’) seal, which didn’t actually mean that he carved or printed the blocks himself (although sometimes he did) but that he oversaw the production.
References:
Dorothy Blair, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, pp. nos. 213-229 (on carvers) , no. 220 (Wetterhorn)
Tadao Ogura, Yoshida Hiroshi zenhangashu (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida), 1987, p. 43, no. 16
Ogura Tadao, Yoshida Hiroshi ten: shizen-e no manazashi, tokubetsuten, botosugo 50 shunen kinen (Yoshida Hiroshi Exhibition), MOA, 2000, p. 107, no. 142
Kendall H. Brown, Shin Hanga’s Tipping Point: The 1930 Toledo Exhibition in Retrospect, in, Carolyn M. Putney et al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 15 (on 1924 traveling exhibition); pp. 246-247, cat. no. 227
Chiba City Museum of Art, Yoshida Hiroshi: A Retrospective, 2016, p. 145, no. 4-28
Christie’s New York, Japanese and Korean Art, March 19, 2024, lot no. 210 (Lugano with Watanabe seal)
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, accession no. 1975-00-7743-000 (pale blue version)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 50.3251 (bright navy version)
Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, accession no. 09902 (violet version)
Ringling Museum of Art, Gift of Charles and Robyn Citrin, accession no. SN11557.124
Three Beauties by Shunsen: Combing her Hair
(Shunsen bijin sanshi: Kamisuki)
Dated and signed, Showa sannen saku (made in Showa 3 [1928]), Shunsen ga, with artist’s seal Shunsen, with publishers seal at lower right, Hanken shoyu Watanabe Shozaburo (Copyright ownership Watanabe Shozaburo), and limited edition seal on verso hyaku goju mai kagiri zeppan, dai nanajuni ban (from a limited edition of 150, number 72), with artist’s seal Shunsen, 1928
dai oban tate-e 15 1/2 by 10 3/8 in., 39.3 by 26.4 cm
In 1916, the same year he released his first full-sized bijin print designed by Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921), Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) saw Shunsen Natori’s paintings of actors in an exhibition and recruited the artist to design actor prints. He published two prints for Shunsen in 1916 and 1917, and then in 1925 they began a large series, Collection of Shunsen Portraits, which was offered by subscription in limited editions of 150 impressions. Like many of the artists that worked for Watanabe, the subject of Shunsen’s designs were primarily limited to his forté, which in the case of Shunsen it was his actor portraits. And indeed, Shunsen became one of the leading, and most prolific, artists depicting kabuki subjects. He did, however, create a few works outside of his designated genre, including this bijin-ga, one of a set of three published by Watanabe.
References:
Dorothy Blair, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, no. 165
Kushigata Choritsu Shunsen Bijutsukan, Natori Shunsen ten: Ukiyo-e kabuki hanga, saigo no kyosho, 1991, p. 74, no. 88
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, no. 160
Kozo Yamada, Shunsen Natori: Collection of the Kushigata Shunsen Museum of Art, 2002, p. 61, no. 122
Carolyn M. Putney, Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, 2013, p. 205, cat. 173
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Wells Collection, 2015, p. 83, fig 2 Ukiyo-e modern: Shinsui no bijin, Hasui no fukei, soshite…), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2018, p. 43, no. 61
Twelve Scenes of Tokyo: Hirakawa Bridge
(Tokyo juni dai: Hirakawa bashi)
Signed at lower right in sumi ink Yoshida with (faint) red artist’s seal Hiroshi, with jizuri (self-printed) seal on upper left margin, dated below, Showa yonen saku (made in Showa 4 [1929]), followed by the title, Tokyo juni dai: Hirakawa bashi, and English title stamped on the bottom margin, Hirakawa Bridge and signed in pencil, Hiroshi Yoshida, 1929
dai oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 7/8 in., 40 by 27.7 cm
Between 1926 and 1929 Yoshida produced this series, Twelve Views of Tokyo, which would ultimately include two variants of the Sumida River composition, bringing the total to 15. He included one oversized print in the series, the monochromatic Snow in Nakazaro– one of the only snow scenes in his entire oeuvre. Even four years into producing woodblock prints independently, Yoshida and his printers were still very experimental and innovative: for this evocative nocturne, Hirakawa Bridge, the three blocks used for the sky were shifted slightly while printing to capture the changing clouds on a moonlit evening.
References:
Ogura Tadao, Yoshida Hiroshi zenhangashu (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida), Abe Shuppan, Tokyo, 1987, p. 68 (on printing technique); p. 75, no. 68
Kushigata Shunsen Museum of Art, Yoshida Hiroshi Woodblock Print Exhibition, 1994, no. 59
Ogura Tadao, Yoshida Hiroshi ten: shizen-e no manazashi, tokubetsuten, botosugo 50 shunen kinen (Yoshida Hiroshi Exhibition), MOA, 2000, p. 9, no. 87
Chiba City Museum of Art, Yoshida Hiroshi: A Retrospective, 2016, p. 173, no. 4-71
New Selection of Noted Places of Kyoto: vol. 1, no. 3, Tea Ceremony at the Miyako Odori with keyblock proof
(Shinsen Kyoto meisho: Miyakoodori no tencha)
Signed Suizan, with publisher’s seal Sato Sho(taro), and carver’s seal hori-yu-to, printed by Oiwa Tokuzo; together with original keyblock proof, 1924
dai oban tate-e 16 3/8 by 10 3/4 in., 41.5 by 27.4 cm
keyblock proof 16 1/2 by 11 in., 42 by 27.9 cm
Born Miki Saichiro in Kinashi in Hyogo prefecture northwest of Osaka, Suizan studied traditional Japanese painting under Kyoto-based painter Takeuchi Seiho (1864-1942) from 1903 until 1913. It is likely he took the art name Suizan during his training with Seiho. In 1913 he began exhibiting his paintings at the government sponsored exhibitions, first with Bunten and subsequent versions Teiten and Shin-Bunten. At the 1932 Teiten he achieved mukansa, the non-vetted status that allowed him to exhibit freely without needed to go through application and pre-vetting. In 1924 he designed 14 woodblock prints for the Kyoto publisher Sato Shotaro, including two series, both titled New Selection of Noted Places in Kyoto (Shinsen Kyoto meisho). The prints were divided into two groups: the First Series was comprised of 8 horizontal landscapes; and the Second Series included 6 vertical figural subjects. All 14 prints were included in the landmark 1930 Toledo Museum of Art exhibition shin hanga. In the accompanying catalogue, Dorthy Blair idenfies the series carver and printer as Maeda Kentaro (c. 1891- 1987) and Oiwa Tokuzo (dates unknown), respectively.
References:
Dorothy Blair, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, no. 119
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 108, no. 139 (titled Preparing Tea a Miyako Odori Festival)
Abe Shuichi, Prints of Japanese Beauties in the 20th Century, 2022, p. 112, no. 163
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, 2013, p. 170, cat. no. 123
Toledo Museum of Art, Gift of Hubert D. Bennet, object no. 1939.200 , 1924
The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, Miki Suizan (1887-1957)
We are pleased to announce our upcoming gallery presentation, STERLING: 25 Years in New York, celebrating our ‘silver’ anniversary during Asia Week New York 2026. Having passed the quarter-century mark, we assembled this exhibition mindful of our own history as we look back on our previous 90 exhibitions and 9 publications, with at least 7,000 works sold to over 50 museums and countless thousands of collectors, while also contemplating the direction of future possibilities. The exhibition will present a selection of works reflecting our continuing commitment to exploring the intertwining development of Japanese woodblock prints from the early to mid-20th century by artists who designed shin-hanga (lit. ‘new prints’) and sosaku hanga (lit. ‘creative prints’), while expanding our collective understanding of the art and artists who contributed to this field. The prints on offer will be supplemented by several paintings related to the design and/or aesthetics of the period, with a fresh look at new artists and related genres. Important and coveted works by highly sought-after artists will be juxtaposed with intriguing finds by little-known or unknown contemporaries. The timeline will begin at the turn of the 20th century and include the creative blast of the post-war period.
To learn more and view these stunning prints, click here.
RECENT ART FAIR
IFPDA Print Fair
April 9 – 12, 2026 Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, NYC
We are delighted to return to the IFPDA Print Fair this spring at the Park Avenue Armory, on view Thursday, April 9 through Sunday, April 12.
Join us for an exceptional presentation of fine prints—tickets available via the IFPDA website.
After visiting the Portland Art Museum in Oregon this past October to attend an insightful symposium related to YOSHIDA CHIZUKO, the first major retrospective exhibition devoted to the work of the pioneering artist Chizuko Yoshida (1924-2017), we were inspired to expand their offerings of her work at the gallery. It took some time to make the arrangements, but we’re delighted to share that a new shipment of works from the Yoshida Family Collection has arrived and is now available on our website.
Included in the new group are impressions of several prints that were seen on view in the Portland exhibition—with examples from various phases of the artist’s life and work. Several are quite large and lavishly embellished with glowing mica. Particularly significant is an impression of Baroque Yellow Wall in Szentendre from 1997 poignantly dedicated to her husband Hodaka Yoshida who had passed away unexpectedly in 1995, which references his affinity for images of highly-textured walls; and one impression of Rondo from 2005, Chizuko’s very last print.
To learn more and view these exceptional prints, click here.
ONLINE EXHIBITIONS
A Private Collection of Shin-Hanga Kabuki Portraits
December 2025 – Early 2026
We are delighted to present a special Online Exhibition of 20th century actor prints from a private collection. Carefully and patiently assembled over decades, the collection includes the finest shin-hanga portraits of kabuki actors produced by leading artists of the period. The selection offered here represents approximately half of the collection, focusing on early works by Yamamura Koka (Toyonari), Natori Shunsen, and Shin’ei. A second grouping will be offered later in the New Year.
To learn more and view these remarkable prints, click here.
Pride of Edo: Collaboration in the Capital City
November – December 2025
We are pleased to announce a special Online Exhibition presenting a selection of prints from the 1864 collaborative series celebrating the famous sights and culture of the historic city, Thirty-Six Scenes of the Pride of Edo (Edo jiman sanjurokkyo), featuring figures by Utagawa Toyokuni III (Kunisada, 1786-1865), set within landscapes designed by Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826-1869).
The Pride of Edo series combines several ukiyo-e tropes: images of bijin (beautiful people, mostly women), celebrating local specialties associated with meisho (famous or popular views) of the capital. Published in the twilight of the Edo Period (1600-1868), the era named after the metropolis itself, the series captures a glimpse of the city and its denizens shortly before the dramatic pivot to modernity on the not-too-distant horizon. But until then, the Edokko (residents of Edo) are depicted going about their daily lives, visiting their favorite haunts, and enjoying the familiar entertainments offered by their hometown. Most of the locations and subjects were readily recognizable to the audience at the time, featuring familiar landmarks with figures modeling up-to-date fashions whilst on their outings about town.
The series seems almost nostalgic, illustrating the traditional lifestyles of the residents of Edo, with very few visual acknowledgments of the encroaching foreigners and their influences which had been flooding through the nearby port of Yokohama for five years. Edo would be renamed Tokyo just four years hence following a violent revolution, with bloody battles fought within the city itself, and concluding with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate. But until then, the Edokko present the best of their city, with pride.
To learn more and view the online exhibition, click here.
Past Exhibitions
Explore our past exhibitions online—each one a unique journey through exceptional art and craftsmanship. View them all here.
About the Gallery
Scholten Japanese Art is a private gallery specializing in Japanese woodblock prints and paintings. We offer ukiyo-e from the 18th to 20th centuries, including shin hanga, sosaku hanga, and Japanese-style woodblock prints produced by Western artists. Located in a spacious suite in the old Meurice Hotel, just steps from Central Park South, we enjoy meeting with visitors one on one in order to best learn about your interests and share the collection with you.
We opened its doors September 2000 in a renovated townhouse on New York’s Upper East Side. In May of 2003, Scholten moved to a private suite in the old Meurice Hotel located on 58th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. We initially planned to stay in midtown temporarily, however, we were pleasantly surprised to find the central location in the heart of Manhattan offers advantages in accessibility for both local collectors (who frequently have business in the area) and proximity to numerous hotels for out-of-town visitors. In 2009 we decided to expand to a larger space in the same building which was renovated to provide more exhibition space as well as a separate ‘Print Room’ devoted to our library and large inventory of woodblock prints. We organize at least two public exhibitions every year during Asia Week (both March and September), but we always have a selection of prints and paintings on view throughout the year.
