Kasamatsu Shiro: Tidal Hour--Shiodoki 潮時 School of Fish (Sold)

Artist: Kasamatsu Shiro (1898-1991)
Title: Tidal Hour--Shiodoki 潮時 School of Fish  Date: 1964

A tight school of beautifully patterned fish fills the frame, giving us a vivid underwater view of their choreographed movement. The fish that are closer to the surface have lighter, more golden coloration. Between 1955 and 1965 Kasamatsu produced about 80 self-carved and self-printed designs, as here. This followed a collaboration with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo between 1919 and the late 1940s. He thus was active in both the shin hanga and the sosaku hanga ("creative print") movements of the 20th century, and had success in both worlds. Titled in ink in kanji at bottom, and dated in the block “1964”. Numbered bottom right “C 57/100”. 

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. The ink smudges on the margins are from the time of printing, and are therefore not considered to be flaws. In the left margin in soft Japanese script it seems to read “45.8.1...Made by Kasamatsu Shirô”. This might be the date of August 1, 1970 (Shôwa 45), and was probably written by a Japanese owner.  Dimensions: 42.4 x 28.4 cm
Publisher: Self-printed
Signature: Shiro Kasamatsu. Titled in ink at bottom, and numbered C 57/100 in pencil at lower right by the artist.

SKU: SHR032