<b>JAPANESE CHILDREN OF YESTERYEAR</b> / Elizabeth Keith1925$1,800</em>

Details

Elizabeth Keith first traveled to Tokyo when she was 28 years old and remained there for 8 years. While in Japan, she produced paintings and watercolors of her travels in Asia. Exhibiting her work to much acclaim, Keith quickly attracted the eye of Watanabe Shōzaburo, the Shin Hanga publisher, who hired the artist to produce designs for his woodblock print studio. Keith was among the first artists in Watanabe’s studio that created both landscapes and portraits.

This work, Children of Yesteryear, is a fine example of Keith’s artistic dexterity. The print depicts two Japanese children at play. A younger child reaches out for a ball attached to a stick while the older girl (presumably the young child’s sister) holds up the ball, playful keeping its circular form beyond the younger child’s reach. The older child’s face is quite realistic, displaying a keen focus. The scene is charming and evokes a warm sense of nostalgia for childhood games.

Connoisseur's Note

Children of Yesteryear was produced after the earthquake and is known in one state where the artist’s signature is executed in pencil. According to Richard Miles, author of the Keith catalog raisonne, the design was intended for an edition of 100 impressions but was never completed, as anti-foreign sentiments surfaced in Western buyers in the years leading to World War II. This oversized print is made more desirable by its excellent state of preservation, retaining its original sharp and vivid colors.