Ishikawa Toraji (1875-1964)
Bored (Tsurezure), from the series Ten Types of Female Nudes (Rajo jusshu), Circa 1934-35
Woodblock print with silver mica ground
Horizontal obaiban:
37.2 x 48.3 cm
14 5/8 x 19 1/8 in
37.2 x 48.3 cm
14 5/8 x 19 1/8 in
Signed: 'Ishikawa' in sumi ink
Artist's red seal: Tora
Block carver's seal: Yamagishi Kazue at lower left margin
Artist's watermark on bottom left margin: Ishikawa Toraji
Published by the artist (first edition)
Artist's red seal: Tora
Block carver's seal: Yamagishi Kazue at lower left margin
Artist's watermark on bottom left margin: Ishikawa Toraji
Published by the artist (first edition)
£ 2,500.00
Ishikawa Toraji was a painter and printmaker who worked in the contemporary yoga, or Western-style and was active during the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) periods. He was born in...
Ishikawa Toraji was a painter and printmaker who worked in the contemporary yoga, or Western-style and was active during the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) periods. He was born in the town of Kochi on the island of Shikoku. Aged seventeen he studied Western-style painting with the artist Koyama Shotaro (1857-1916). In the early 1900s he travelled extensively in the United States and Europe, returning to Japan in 1904 and exhibited his oil paintings at the Bunten, Teiten and Shin-bunten government-sponsored exhibitions.
In 1934 and 1935 Toraji designed and printed his most famous and celebrated series of woodblock prints - Ten Types of Female Nudes (Rajo jusshu). Each print depicts a female nude in various settings in large-format utilising bold colours and embellished with crushed mica. This series is recognised as pushing cultural and artistic boundaries by incorporating Western style fashion and Art Deco motifs and proved controversial on its release with some designs confiscated by the Japanese authorities.
For another example of the first edition of this print in the collection of The British Museum, accession no. 1981,0525,0.1, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1981-0525-0-1
In 1934 and 1935 Toraji designed and printed his most famous and celebrated series of woodblock prints - Ten Types of Female Nudes (Rajo jusshu). Each print depicts a female nude in various settings in large-format utilising bold colours and embellished with crushed mica. This series is recognised as pushing cultural and artistic boundaries by incorporating Western style fashion and Art Deco motifs and proved controversial on its release with some designs confiscated by the Japanese authorities.
For another example of the first edition of this print in the collection of The British Museum, accession no. 1981,0525,0.1, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1981-0525-0-1