50s Japanese Woodblock Print Night Rain in Rakuhoku, Kyoto Kotozuka Eiichi (MoP)

Up for sale from a recent client in Honolulu Hawaii this 1950s Japanese color woodblock print titled Night Rain in Rakuhoku, Kyoto and was created by the well known artist Eiichi Kotozuka (琴塚 英一, 1906-1981). The print was published by the Uchida company. The condition is described above - for more information please check the photos.

Measurements:

Print 10.75 inches x 15.5 inches

Sheet 11.75 inches x 17.5 inches

More about the artist:

Eiichi Kotozuka (琴塚 英一, Kotozuka Eiichi, 1906 - 1 October 1981) was a 20th-century Japanese commercial artist and woodblock printmaker. He was a prolific artist of the sōsaku-hanga style. He was one of four artists who co-founded the print publishing company Koryokusha. He was noted for his prints of Japanese cultural traditions, flowers, landscapes, and wildlife.


Kotozuka was born in Osaka in 1906.[1] He was a member of the Seiryusha Group of Liberal Artists.[2]


Kotozuka was an adherent of the sosaku hanga style of illustration, which emphasized a print process with greater direct artist involvement, resulting in a somewhat more crude illustration, but one with stronger emotional impact. Prior to sosaku hanga, an artist would create an illustration which would be passed to a team of engravers, printers, and publishers who would each control the production of the final print. In sosaku hanga, the artist was directly involved with each step.[3]

Condition: 

The print is overall in acceptable pre-owned condition, with brown spotting throughout and toning on the front and back, the paper is NOT brittle and can be cleaned