JAPANESE ART > KUCHI-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > LOVERS ON THE PIER

Lot 00384
N.1 kuchi-e woodblock print

Tomioka Eisen

LOVERS ON THE PIER

Year: 1897
Condition: very good
Size: 30,5 x 22 cm

SOLD

Beautiful kuchi-e (口絵) woodblock print depicting a couple of lovers talking on a pier in the moonlight. The work is taken from vol. 3 n. 15 of the famous literary magazine Bungei Kurabu (文芸倶楽部) and was made, in November 1897, by the artist Tomioka Eisen (富岡永洗) as an illustration of the novel "A Couple of Decorative Words" (雙々綺語) by the writer Miyake Seiken (三宅青軒).

Tomioka Eisen (1864 - 1905), a pupil of the famous Kobayashi Eitaku (小林永濯), began working as a freelance artist when he was still a draughtsman in the imperial army. After the disappearance of his master, he devoted himself entirely to his artistic career and became a very appreciated and well-paid magazine illustrator. He died only forty-one years old, when the kuchi-e movement was in full bloom.

The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced by the Hakubunkan (博文館) publishing house, is in very good general condition.

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