1954 Print Kitigawa Utamaro Cicada Snail Fruit Plants Japanese Art Insect XANA4

"Cicada and Snail with Fruit and Plants" (1788)

This is an original 1954 color tipped-in print of a nature scene by Japanese artist Kitigawa Utamaro.

Please note the dimensions of this item.

CONDITION

This 58+ year old Item is rated Very Fine ++. Light aging throughout. No creases. No natural defects. No surface rub. No tears. No water damage. Please note: There is printing on the verso of the mounting board.

• Product Type: Orig. Tipped-In Print; Color
• Grade: Very Fine ++
• Dimensions: Approximately 7 x 4.5 inches; 18 x 11 cm
• Authentication: Serial-Numbered Certificate of Authenticity w/ Full Provenance
• Protection: Packaged in a custom archival sleeve with an acid-free black board (great for display, gift-giving, and preservation)

This piece was illustrated by Utamaro, Kitagawa.

Kitagawa Utamaro

Kitagawa Utamaro is considered to be one of the most important Edo Period ukiyo-e, or wood block print, artists. Born in 1753, his birthplace is debated as either Edo (modern Tokyo), Kyoto or Osaka. The more interesting story of his birth though, is that he was born in the courtesan district of Yoshiwara, Japan to the owner of a tea-house. Unfortunately there is no historical evidence to support that narrative. Other accounts state that he was son and pupil of an artist named Toriyaka Sekien with whom he studied the painting of the Kano School of Edo and eventually the less socially eminent ukiyo-e discipline. Utamaru's art is used today as a typical representation of Japanese art from the Edo Period and had also published under the name Toyoaki.

Largely unnoticed by his contemporaries for years, Utamaro produced a prodigious amount of yakusha-e, portraits of kabuki actors and bijin-g, studies of beautiful faces. He would become an artist of note when he ventured into a discipline called shunga which was a respected form of erotica from the Edo Period. In fact, Utamaro found himself under arrest and shackled for fifty days when he published a collection of shunga entitled Hideyoshi and His Five Concubines based on a historical novel which depicted the former military leader and national hero in an unkind light. The artist, crushed and disillusioned by this would die two years later in 1806. His reputation and artistic style would be survived by his student Koikawa Shuncho who eventually adopted the school name of Utamaro. Utamaro was the only member of his ukiyo-e contemporaries who could claim national renown in his lifetime and his art, to this day, is regarded as some of the most beautiful and evocative ukiyo-e of Japanese art.

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