Narazaki Eisho (Shinjo): Man Fishing in the Rain (SOLD)

Artist: Narazaki Eisho (1864-1936)
Title: Man Fishing Beneath a Bridge in the Rain  Date: ca. Taisho period

Charming scene of a man fishing from the gravel bank of a river in the rain. He wears an old-fashioned straw raincoat and sandals, and all of the elements surrounding him have a timeless, pre-industrial feeling. The obvious debt is to Hiroshige’s Ohashi Bridge print, so it might be winking humor that the man stands beneath the bridge and is stationary rather than running through the rain. The artist Narazaki Eisho also used the artist’s names of Fuyo and Shinjo, and this work is signed Shinjo. The artist learned copperplate printing at a government office as an assistant to the Italian artist Chiossone. Eisho worked with Watanabe Shozaburo in publishing a few shin hanga designs in the 1930s, the best-known one being “Interior of Asakusa Temple”. He published some bird-and-flower designs as Fuyo https://egenolfgallery.com/products/fuyo-narazaki-eisho-kingfisher-and-snowladen-reeds?_pos=1&_sid=96134d7af&_ss=r&variant=32421554585682. He apparently signed Fuyo from 1916-1922. To this dealer, the paper on this print would indicate a Taisho-era date, so perhaps Shinjo was an early artist’s name. Scarce.

Condition: Excellent/Very good impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: 17.9 x 24.7 cm  Signed: Shinjo 新城

SKU: EIH010