JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > KAGAWA OF THE HOUSE INAMOTO

Lot 00651
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Utagawa School

KAGAWA OF THE HOUSE INAMOTO

Year: 1845 ca.
Condition: signs of aging
Size: 25 x 37 cm

SOLD

Important original woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format made around 1845 by an artist of the Utagawa school (歌川派). The print, depicting the courtesan Kagawa (香川) of the house of pleasure Inamotoya (稲本屋), is a rare example of a work also present in the famous collection of Japanese woodcuts that the painter Vincent van Gogh bought in the winter of 1886-87.

The complete title of the work is "Shin Yoshiwara, Edocho Nichome: Inamotoya uchi Kagawa" (新吉原 江戸町弐丁目 稲本屋内香川), that is "Kagawa of the House Inamoto, on the Second Block of Edocho in Shin Yoshiwara District", and some scholars think that Van Gogh could also refer to this work to trace some of the ideograms visible on his canvases inspired by the Japanese prints.

The precious woodblock print shows evident signs of aging of the washi paper (和紙), in particular signs of folding and cracking, but is in overall fair condition.

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