<b>BORED</b>Ishikawa Toraji1935<B>SOLD</B></em>

Details

A nude sits on a plush oval red carpet, hunched over with her left hand supporting her weight. She peruses a book with designs of bijin-ga from the bygone era of Edo. The scene exposes her entire back. Her relaxed form is playfully echoed by the oval shape of the carpet as well as the sleeping cat next to her. In this scene, it is the artist’s aim to introduce a new type of beauty to the cannon of bijin-ga, one that is utterly modern. The design’s lack of fashion to place the woman’s relaxed and unbothered or, as the title suggests, “bored,” feeling while in her state of undress, certainly breaks from tradition. The daring composition itself, which takes its cue from European art, particularly French posters, is a shot across the bow of tradition. Toraji’s inclusion of a book of Ukiyo-e bijin-ga in this composition with the given title may suggest to the viewer that, indeed, the old paradigm of depicting beauty leaves much to be desired. 

Connoisseur's Note

This print is the first state of the design, as it only bears the carver’s seal, Yamagishi Kazue, at the lower left corner. The print has a fine silver mica background. This impression is in an exceedingly fine state of preservation with sharp and vivid colors. The print comes with its original hanshita, or keyblock.