<b>VENICE</b> / Kazue Yamagishic. 1930<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

Kazue Yamagishi was known for his outstanding woodblock carving skills. He was commissioned by both Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga artists to carve wood blocks and, in some cases, even print the works himself. His clientele included Takehisa Yumeiji, Kaburagi Kiyokata, Ishikawa Toraji, Hiroshi Yoshida, Paul Jacoulet, and Koshiro Onchi. Due to his skills and interest in printmaking, Yamagishi was one of those artists that straddled both traditions and was fluent in Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga idioms.

Yamagishi left Japan in 1926 to travel across the United States and Europe until his return in 1929. As a tourist, Yamagishi visited all the most important historical sites, often sketching them onsite in preparation for the production of his designs as woodblock prints upon his return to Japan.

In this particular work, Yamagishi provides us with a highly expressive, almost impressionist, design of small sailboats and gondolas in Venice. The handwriting at the lower-left confirms the title and location. The print’s colors are executed in an uneven oscillating manner, heightening the sense of light and adding a dynamism that animates the design. One can see why Onchi, arguably the most expressive printmaker of this time, hired Yamagishi to help produce some of his work that was destined for inclusion in dojin-style art magazines.

Connoisseur's Note

This print is clearly an early self-carved, self-printed work executed faithfully in the Sosaku Hanga tradition. At this time, these creative prints were more experiments than commercial ventures for the artist. Yamagishi rarely extended this type of work into large editions, thus making this impression extraordinarily rare and that much more desirable.