Bannai Kokan: Nihonbashi in Snow 日本橋

Artist: Bannai Kokan (1900-1963)
Title: Nihonbashi in Snow 日本橋 (Yuki no Nihonbashi)

Series: Modern Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido 現代東海道五十三次之内 Gendai Tokaido Gojusantugi no uchi  Date: 1930

Terrific snow design of a prewar buildings and transport in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Beneath the stone bridge we see a man in in an old-fashioned straw coat poling an old-fashioned wooden boat beneath one of the spans; above we see streetcars and foot traffic crossing the bridge. In addition to the famous  streetcar crossing, we see what must be the 1914 Daiei Building, standing tall at right. It was most certainly destroyed in WWII, but today the building stands taller in a similar design, made of steel and glass. 

The snow has been rendered in a unique way, unlike that of any other artist at the time. It is shown in large clumps as well as thin streaks, and above the water the snowflakes are much softer and more translucent. This work was apparently based on a painting that the artist exhibited in 1927, so perhaps the printing/carving team was capturing the brushstrokes of the original painting. .This artist published just a few designs with Watanabe; this design was reprinted in recent decades, but those editions lack this Watanabe seal in the lower right corner, used between 1930-1942.

Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Some soft creases.

Dimensions: ôban 26.2 x 38.6 cm
Publisher: Watanabe
Literature: See Brown & Goodall, Shin Hanga: New prints in Modern Japan, (Los Angeles, 1996), p.82, fig. 110. Mentioned in Merrit & Yamada, Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975 (1992), page 15. The MFA has a postwar edition.  Signature: Kokan

SKU: KBC011S