Oda Kazuma: Gaien (Meiji Jingu Gaien)

Artist: Oda Kazuma 1882-1956
Title: Gaien (Meiji Jingu Gaien)
Date: 1930

Delightful scene of three young girls enjoying the green space of the outer gaden of Meiji Jingu garden. In the distance we see the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, which was finished in 1926. The rendering of the landscape is unique to this artist, with cross-hatching in the grass that seems to borrow from lithograpy. Kazuma was primarily a lithographer who studied with Emil Orlik, but he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast and woodblock print artist. He designed six shin hanga designs for Watanabe in 1924. He was a founding member of the Japan Creative Print Association (Nihon Sosaku-hanga Kyokai). As noted in “The new wave” (p. 136), “...the artist was able to transfer his knowledge of Ukiyo-e and lithography to the woodblock medium.” From a scarce series showing parks in the Tokyo area before the war. Titled in Romaji lower right “Gaien 1930”. 

SKU: OKZ010