OHANAMI (Suzuki Kason)

N.1 kuchi-e woodblock print
Year: 1905
Condition: good
Size: 30 x 22 cm

SOLD

Description

In this refined kuchi-e (口絵) frontispiece, entitled “Ohanami” (お花見) and made in April 1905 for the vol. 11 n. 5 of the famous literary magazine Bungei Kurabu (文芸倶楽部), the artist Suzuki Kason (鈴木華邨) depicts a bijin (美人) beauty looking at the petals falling from a cherry tree: a symbol of the impermanence of life, as well as the topic of countless Japanese poems, songs and figurative representations.

Suzuki Kason (1860 – 1919), although known to collectors mainly for his xylographic frontispieces, indeed rather rare to find, was above all a prolific painter of traditional style, as well as a member of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (帝国美術院).

The woodblock print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), printed by the Hakubunkan (博文館) publishing house, despite the right signs of aging, is in good condition