Hashiguchi Goyō, (1880?–1921), Woman Applying Makeup (Keshō no onna), color woodblock print, with gold pigment highlights and mica ground, 21⅝ x 15¼ in. (54.9 x 38.7 cm), Taishō shichinen (Seventh year of Taishō, 1918), Signed: Goyō ga, Sealed: Goyō, Publisher: self-published, Block-cutter: [Takano Shichinosuke], Printer: [Somekawa Kanzō], Certification: Tokudai nijū go (Special edition, no. 20)

Sebastian Izzard LLC
Japanese Paintings and Prints: 1910‒1935
October 4–27, 2023
11am-5pm, by appointment only

During the first half of the twentieth century, the man at the center of the Japanese print revival was the entrepreneurial genius Watanabe Shōzuburō (1885–1962), whose publications form the greatest portion of the works in this exhibition. Deeply interested in Edo period ukiyo-e, Watanabe made it his project to rescue the art form, which had fallen somewhat out of fashion. Blessed with a natural flair for business, a good eye, and a personable manner, he placed himself at the center of a team of newly recruited artists and craftsmen who worked in tandem, in this aspect resembling the great 18th and 19th century publishers Tsutaya Jūzaburō and Nishimuraya Yohachi. In doing so, he single-handedly created the Shin-hanga movement, recording the fashions of the day and the landscapes of Japan in the pre-war period, for the delectation of his market, both domestic and international.  A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

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