An Exceptional Suite of Post-War Woodblock Prints

12 Original Wood Blocks in Color of Japanese Native Customs / Nihon minzoku zufu: Nihon hanga kyokai dojin rensaku jikoku hangashu /日本民俗圖譜: 日本版画協會同人連作自刻版画集.

Notes: A groundbreaking suite of a dozen woodblock prints published immediately after the Second World War on inferior-quality materials, with images of seldom-depicted rural subjects rendered in sometimes crude but always expressionistic style. The artists participating in this project were some of the best-known of the postwar period: Saito Kiyoshi, Gen Yamaguchi, Wakayama Yasoji, Maekawa Senpan (2 images), Doshun Mori, Kuroki Sadao, Umetaro Azechi, Kawanishi Hide, Maeda Masao, and Junichiro Sekino (2 images).

This portfolio of images, which includes a title sheet, an explanatory booklet, twelve original woodblock prints in paper frames, and a ribbon-tied portfolio with a paper label, is sometimes referred to as Picture Notes on Native Customs. The scenes depicted are vignettes of rural life, often from the artists' hometown, that were seldom depicted in formal Japanese art.

The inspiration for this portfolio is to both look backwards and forwards in post-war Japan. "Japan is now on the start-line to the new development. Getting free from militarism Japan is expected to be developed to a nation of civilization. At this point of change, it may be interesting to look back at the native customs and festivals as to realize the future images of Japan. These humble customs and festivals will also become the mother's milk of Japanese people to bring up the peaceful heart filled with love and piousness" (quoted directly from the English-language introduction.

This collection of prints is somewhat uncommon, with just one listing in OCLC (in Japan), but it is represented in a number of important museums, including the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Portland Art Museum, and the Carnegie Museum of Art.

The portfolio measures 10-1/2 by 13-1/2 inches; the woodblock prints are typically 7-1/4 by 9-1/4 inches, or the reverse, in a larger paper frame. The prints are identified on the back of the paper folder and most are signed in the image.

Edition + Condition: First edition. An exceptional set, complete with all twelve images in the original paper frames, with English and Japanese captions on the frame versos (back). The prints are exceptionally clean and bright; the title sheet and the explanatory text (mostly in Japanese) are present and fine. The enclosing portfolio is very near fine, with minor loss to the paper covering in a few places.

Publication: Tokyo: Fugaku Honsha, 1946.

Item No: #307592

Price: $1,950