Kiyochika 小林: Mannen Bridge at the Source of Hakone Sokokura Hot Spring

Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika 小林清親 (1847-1915)
Title: Mannen Bridge at the Source of Hakone Sokokura Hot Spring
Date: 1881

This is one of the few prints that come from sketches Kiyochika made in 1881, and the exact month and hour of the sketch has been incorporated into the rocks at left, almost like graffiti “Sketched at 9 am in early October”. Henry D. Smith describes this work with perfect eloquence: “This print is revealing for its experimental quality. Its simplified angularity suggests Japanese “creative” prints of the 1920s, in which the artist carved and printed his own blocks, rather and the ukiyo-e tradition. The soft and natural quality of the pencil-and-watercolor model has become more abstract, with the autumn colors limited in area and the flow of the water so stylized as to render the waterfall static, much less like a real waterfall than in the sketch.” (The sketch is also pictured in the book.) With sparkling mica added to many areas of the print.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. With large margins intact.
Dimensions: ôban horizontal (24.4 x 35.8 cm)
Publisher: Fukada Kumajirô
Literature: Pictured in “Kiyochika: Artist of Meiji Japan” by Henry D. Smith II, page 54. See SBMA online.
Signature: Kobayashi Kiyochika

SKU: KYC458