Kishio Koizumi: Hama Imperial Gift Park at Shiba (Reserved)

Artist: Kishio Koizumi (1893-1945)
Title: Hama Imperial Gift Park at Shiba  Date: 1930

Hama Imperial gift Park in Shiba. A woman stands at the edge of a landscaped lake, looking out over the scenery. Her face is obscured by her parasol. The print title is printed in blue in upper left: Shibahama onshi-koen. The series title is printed in pink below it “Showa dai Tokyo hyakuzue”, followed by the date and number, hanga kanseiban, dai gonen jugatsu saku, nana kei (complete print series, 5th year [1930], 10th month, no. 7). Interestingly, it is  signed in pencil, Koizumi Kishio, in the right margin. There are numerous difference between this and other examples. In the Rijksmuseum example, the artist has signed his signature in the block in Kanji and Romaji, and there are more patterns in the parasol. The colors of the foreground and lantern are also more towards bright yellow in those examples. The MIT example has coloration that is closer to the colors in this example, and it also lacks the printed signature.

Koizumi commented on this design in the annotated index and noted with disapproval the changing landscape: “This park was once the location of an imperial villa. Now houses built on a nearby landfill obstruct the view”. It is now called the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden and is surrounded by skyscrapers, although it still has a central pond and a stone lantern.

Koizumi Kishio  self-published 100 designs in this very interesting series, although it took nine years to complete after the first work was published in 1928 in the aftermath of the 1923 earthquake and the re-imagining of Tokyo. All works were self-carved and self-printed, within the ethos of the sosaku hanga movement.  Koizumi was one of only two sosaku hanga artists (the other being Hiratsuka) to have received extensive training in woodblock carving from a professional block-carver. In general the designs are very strong, and have a fresh perspective that is distinctive to this series. These works were sold by subscription club, which the artist declared to be limited to 50 members. Quite scarce. We recommend the article by James Ulak on MIT’s Visualizing Cultures website on this series, which gives terrific analysis and background information in regards to the historical and cultural backdrop of the period.

Series: One Hundred Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era 昭和大東京百図絵版画 
Dimensions: 31 x 39 cm  
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. 

References: See the Rijksmuseum Netherlands collection for their example, which is done with more yellows instead of the browns. All the works may be viewed on the MIT Visualizing Cultures website.

SKU: KZK020