Photo Credit: Craigkc
Japanese Woodblock Print by Tsuchiya Koitsu – Evening at Ushigome
Buy It Now Price: $299.99 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This Japanese woodblock print is a vintage reprint of a 1939 work titled “Evening at Ushigome” by the well-regarded Shin Hanga artist Tsuchiya Koitsu. The work features a rainy urban night scene set in a Tokyo neighborhood populated by haunting, ethereal women in traditional Japanese dress.
-This Japanese woodblock print measures 15.375 inches (39.1 cm) tall by 10.125 inches (25.7 cm) wide, making it one of the larger, “Oban” sizes.
-Tsuchiya Koitsu was a Japanese artist known for his atmospheric landscapes in the Shin Hanga style. He apprenticed under the Ukiyo-e master Kiyochika Kobayashi before eventually adopting the Shin Hanga style around 1931.
-This Japanese woodblock print was published by Doi Hangaten, a well known mid-20th century publisher of Shin Hanga works. It also displays an offset “Harada-Yokoi” carver-printer seal, which is fairly common on vintage Tsuchiya Koitsu prints. This combination of seals (reference K34) allows us to pinpoint the date of this particular print between 1950 and 1963.
-The back of the print features an old art gallery tag that reads “A Genuine Wood-Block Print | Ace Art Shop | 115 Nakasato-Cho, Kita-Ku, Tokyo, Japan | #27”. The Ace Art Shop is a now defunct Tokyo gallery that was active back in the 1960s (and possibly earlier). It’s really great to have this little extra piece of provenance attached to the print.
-Although it isn’t a first edition, this Tsuchiya Koitsu Japanese woodblock print is undoubtedly an earlier, circa 1950s version. This makes it much more desirable (and valuable) than later 1990s to 2010s Heisei era reprints.
-Given that this is a genuine vintage Japanese woodblock print from the mid-20th century by a famous Shin Hanga artist, the asking price of $300 is a bargain. It is far more common to find later reprinted versions for hardly any cheaper, so why not pay an extra $100 and get a vintage version with greater appreciation potential?
Cons:
-This example of Evening at Ushigome has the remnants of yellowed tape residue around the margins. This means the work isn’t in pristine condition, a fact that decreased its desirability somewhat. Even so, I feel it is still in fairly good condition and certainly worth the asking price.
-The work comes unframed. With acid-free matting and UV-resistant glass, framing costs will typically run another $100 to $300 (in addition to the $300 asking price).
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