<b>SUNSET AT WEST PARK</b> / Kako Watanabe1936<b>SOLD</b></em>
ARTIST: Kako (Shozaburo) Watanabe (1885-1962)
TITLE: Sunset at West Park
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1936
DIMENSIONS: 17 1/8 x 11 1/2 inches
CONDITION: No problems to note
LITERATURE: Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, Fig. 17
SOLD
ARTIST: Kako (Shozaburo) Watanabe (1885-1962)
TITLE: Sunset at West Park
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1936
DIMENSIONS: 17 1/8 x 11 1/2 inches
CONDITION: No problems to note
LITERATURE: Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, Fig. 17
SOLD
ARTIST: Kako (Shozaburo) Watanabe (1885-1962)
TITLE: Sunset at West Park
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1936
DIMENSIONS: 17 1/8 x 11 1/2 inches
CONDITION: No problems to note
LITERATURE: Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, Fig. 17
SOLD
Details
The print publisher, Shozaburo Watanabe, is credited with founding the shin hanga movement. Utilizing his woodblock print production studio that originally produced ukiyo-e restrikes, Watanabe discovered nearly all the artists that would create the iconic imagery of this important print movement, producing their tantalizing designs in his workshop. It was Watanabe’s keen eye for talent mixed with his strong sense of commercially desirable images that granted Watanabe success in this endeavor. During his tenure as publisher and patron, Watanabe also demonstrated his artistic eye in the production of original designs of his conception.
Fukoaka West Park (1931), is one of two designs Watanabe produced under the artist name Kako Watanabe. This stunning print illustrates a lakeside vista with a glimpse of a mountain range overhead. The foreground is populated by gently swaying pine trees executed in silhouette, which frame the design and add drama to this quiet scene. Though the image is striking, Watanabe made certain to design a work that would feature the talent of his master woodblock carvers and printers. Of particular note is the loose and expressive manner in which the pine trees are rendered. This area required several intricately carved blocks and skillful printing to produce the subtle sense of movement in the pine trees. Moreover, the pond’s marvelous symphony of light and movement is entirely in debt to, once again, the skill of the woodblock carvers and printers to that well apt at producing these awe-inspiring effects.
Connoisseur's Note
In the 1930s, when this print was produced, Watanabe’s studio was full of orders producing dozens of designs by a large stable of artists, including some of Hasui and Shinsui’s most desirable prints. It would stand to reason that Watanabe produced these two designs more as artistic whims than strictly for commercial purposes. The uncommon frequency in which these two designs appear in the marketplace also strongly suggests they were produced in relatively small numbers.