Japanese Woodblock Prints

Two copies of the Takeji Asano woodblock print Spring in Daigoji Temple have been added to the gallery. As can be seen in the images uploaded both prints have creasing to them. Spring in Daigoji Temple (B) I knew was lightly creased when I purchased it while the print Spring in Daigoji Temple (A) was in good condition but was damaged in transit due to very inadequate packing (ie. none!). The creases on the print match exactly those of the very very thin cardboard envelope it was placed in. I sent both prints off to a paper conservator and after being attended to they are both now in uncreased and cleaned condition – $75 dollars well spent.

I’ll replace the current images with new ones showing the uncreased prints and add additional images in the Description for the prints so there is a before and after record.

Spring in Daigoji Temple (A)	Spring in Daigoji Temple (B)

I’ve listed both copies of this woodblock print as First Editions based on the fact that both contain the date in the lower left margin which does not appear on later editions. The dates on the prints are different and I’ll try to get those translated. Also interesting is the fact that the Unsodo publisher seals and the Printer seals are different. The Unsodo publisher seal on Spring in Daigoji Temple (A) is the longer circa 1947 style seal while copy (B) has the shorter more common 1950-2000′s seal. While the printer seals are different they both appear to be Shinmi Saburo. If time permits I’ll try to do more research on this. The carver for both prints was Nagashima Michio.

Copy A Takeji Asano Spring in Daigoji Temple

Spring in Daigoji Temple – Copy A seals

Copy B Takeji Asano Spring in Daigoji Temple

Spring in Daigoji Temple – Copy B seals

Two prints by Australian woodblock print maker Tom Kristensen have been uploaded to the gallery. The prints I’ve acquired are from what’s probably his smallest series of woodblock prints – two landscapes of the Blue Mountains in Australia. He has an interesting eclectic range of work which includes the following: – Australia landscapes of the [...]

Four woodblock prints by Toshi Yoshida have been added to the gallery. All four are lifetime editions pencil signed by the artist. The first three were part of Toshi’s limited woodblock print output during the early years of WWII. During the war years he primarily produced a number of watercolours dedicated to the war effort. [...]

The gallery has been updated with two woodblock prints by Osamu Sugiyama. Both woodblock prints are from a series on Japanese mountains by Sugiyama. Both are self carved, printed and published by the artist. The first is a scene is of Azumino village in Nagano prefecture and the second is a view of Mt Hodaka [...]