Posts by Richard Kruml:
Katsukawa SHUNCHO(Fl. c 1780-1801
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The first sheet of a triptych showing travellers on a mountain path – possibly the Tokaido Road. Published by Eijudo (Nishimuraya Yohachi), c 1790. Other impressions in the MFA Boston, acc. no. 21.5953 and the BM, 1910, 0212, 0.439. Little is known of Shuncho’s life. He was a pupil of Shunsho and heavily influenced by Kiyonaga. Probably the greatest exponent of the triptych format and a master of the pillar print format.
Fine impression. Extremely good colour. Fine condition. Signed Shuncho ga.
Status: Available
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Travellers viewing Mount Asama. Usui-toge yori Asama o miru zu, “A View of Mount Asama from Usui Pass.” From Kuniyoshi’s best landscape set. Of the utmost rarity with most extant impressions differing. This and the impression in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, are similar, without the smoke […]
Kitagawa UTAMARO (1753-1806)
Click here to view image full size. Presumably the last sheet of a triptych (I cannot locate the complete design at the moment). Shows three geisha representing three of the Seven Lucky Gods: Benzaiten, Fukurokuji, Ebisu. The other sheets would show the other four. They are depicted on the Takarabune, ” Treasure Ship” which has […]
Kitagawa TSUKIMARO (Active c 1804-1836)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on dark silk, 33.5 x 11.5 in; 85 x 29 cms. Shows a Chinese beauty – possibly Yang Guikei – collecting medicinal leaves from a Japanese spice bush. An intriguing painting with Ukiyo-e elements fused with both Chinese and Western styles. Tsukimaro was […]
Kawanabe KYOSAI (GYOSAI) (1831-1889)
Click here to view image full size. A draughtsman of great dexterity with a wild, often bizarre, imagination. Loved sake, sometimes painting under its influence. At an early age studied under Kuniyoshi, then Maemura Towa and later Kano Tohaku Chinshin before becoming an independent painter at 27. Was famous for his crow paintings but also […]
Yamamoto SHOUN (1870-1965)
Click here to view image full size. A large original painting , full colour with gold on silk, image size 50.5 x 19.75 in; 128.25 x 50 cms. Shows Shoki, the Demon Quellor, with sword drawn watching an oni escaping on a cloud, upper left. Various Chinese legends exist regarding the origins of Shoki but […]
Suzuki HARUTSUGI (HARUJI) (Active 1760-1770)
Click here to view image full size. A large koban print, 8.75 x 6 in; 22.25 x 15.25 cms, showing a samurai with two attendants. Aki, “Autumn” from a set of the four seasons, Shiki. A rare artist and most likely a follower of Harunobu. Produced a number of pillar prints. Provenance: Ex Javal, sold […]
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Wada from the Sixty-nine Stations f the Kisokaido. The set was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseiri (Kinjudo). Wada is the highest point on the Kisokaido and Hiroshige shows travellers traversing […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Otani Tomoemon V playing the role of Ono no Michikaze (also read as Ono no Tofu) in the play Ono no Tofu Aoyagi Suzuri performed at the Ichimura-za Theatre, 5/1869. From a set of at least 22 prints published by Gusokuya Kahei, 1869. Kunichika produced some […]
Tamagawa SHUNSUI (Active 1772-1781)
Click here to view image full size. A hashira-e, “pillar print” by a rare artist, a pupil of Choshun who went on to teach Katsukawa Shunsho. Produced a few chuban, hosoban, and pillar prints. Shows the Minamoto (Genji) warrior Kumagai Naozane ,above, attacking the Taira (Heike) warrior Taira no Atsumori, below, at the battle of […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE II (1826-1869)
Click here to view image full size. The Dragon’s Maw Mountain, Bizen Province, Bizen tatsu-no-kuchiyama from an unfinished set Shokoku meisho hyakkei, “One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces” published by Uoya Eikichi between 1859 and 1861 (this being 1860). Shows a lone figure battling a heavy rainstorm in a steep-sided canyon. […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A rare early Kuniyoshi triptych, Minamoto no Yorimitsu no Shitenno tsuchigumo taiji no dzu, showing Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Raiko) and his loyal retainers: Watanabe no Tsuna, Usui no Sadamitsu, Sakata no Kintoki and Urabe no Suetake killing the giant “Earth Spider.” Numerous versions exist of this story but […]
Utagawa TOYOKUNI I (1769-1825)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and colour on silk, 10.5 x 8.75 in; 26.7 x 22.2 cms. A beauty after a bath. Signed Toyokuni ga with his kakihan. In very good condition. Status: Available Click here to view image full size.
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour with gold outline to robe, 32 x 10.75 in; 81.3 x 27.3 cms, on silk. Shows a beauty erotically biting on her hand towel (tenugui) while on the way to a public bath house. This gesture represented deep emotion. Hokkei was one of […]
Tsubaki CHINZAN (1801-1854)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting album, 11 x 13 in; 28 x 33 cms (folded out). Chinzan, a Nanga painter, was Watanabe Kazan’s best pupil. The sketchbook has 25 extremely abbreviated sketches using minimal brushstrokes. Status: Available Click here to view image full size. Click here […]
Katsukawa SHUNKO (1743-1812)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Matsumoto Koshiro II, arms crossed, in a defiant stance. Shunko had a minor stroke at the age of 45 and subsequently had to work with his left hand using the go of Sahitsusai, “Studio of the Left-handed Brush.” Published c 1771-1772. Very good impression, […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The general Morozumi Masakiyo, Lord of Bungo and a retainer of the Takeda Clan (Shingen of Kai Province) in a battle with the Uesugi Clan (Kenshin of Echigo Province), The wars taking place between 1553 and 1563. From a set Koetsu yusho den, “Stories of Courageous Generals of […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Seki Sanjuro III as Saruta Hiko in the play Yoinakatomi Kiyome no mikagura staged at the Ichimura-za Theatre 8/1869. From a set of at least 22 prints published by Gusokuya Kahei, 1869. Kunichika was a hack artist who nevertheless produced some fine triptychs (horizontal and vertical) […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. An original fan painting, 6.5 x 17.5 in; 16.5 x 44.5 cms. Sumi and colour on treated paper. Shows a kappa appearing from the Sumidagawa and terrifying a man who runs for his life. Kappa were amphibious creatures found in rivers and ponds. Their bodies were covered with […]
Mori SOSEN (1747-1821)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and light colour on silk, image size 8 x 10.75 in; 20.5 x 27.5 cms. His life is not well documented but he is known to have studied under the Kano artist Yamamoto Joshunsai (? -1781) before being drawn into Mauyama Okyo’s (1735-1795) artistic […]
Kawamata TSUNEYUKI (1677-c1744)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper, 14.5 x 21 in; 35.5 x 53.5 cms. The founder of the Kawamata School. (A pupil was Kawamata Tsunemasa.) Little is known of his life and there are few paintings: A group were in Christies NY, 27/10/1998, lots 40, 42, 44, […]
Nagasawa ROSETSU (1754-1799)
Click here to view image full size. An original fan painting, sumi on treated paper, 17 x 6.25 in; 43 x 16 cms. Shows two needlefish (family Belonidae).Rosetsu is considered one of the most important artists of the late Edo period but little is known of his short life – he died at forty-five, apart […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Onoye Kikugoro III as the ghost of Oiwa from a production of Yotsuya kaidan at the Morita Theatre, 1836. Probably the most famous Japanese ghost story. It was adapted by the playwright Tsuruya Nanboku IV for his friend Kikugoro in 1825. The left panel of a […]
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
Click here to view image full size. An important collection of original drawings by Kyosai laid into two accordion albums, opening horizontally, 13.5 x 10 inches. Approx 157 drawings ( one signed and sealed; one signed and dated [ 6th October Meiji 3,1870 ]; and one signed ). After the date is the place: Shinobazu […]
Imao KEINEN (1845-1924)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi on paper, image size 54 x 19.5 in; 137 x 49.5 cms. A pupil of Umegawa Tokyo and Suzuki Hyakunen. Keinen was an important figure in Kyoto art circles and considered the pre-eminent kachoga (bird and flower) artist at the end of the 19th […]
Ichiunsai KUNIHISA (1832-1891)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper with the black waistband heavily lacquered, image size 48 x 11 in; 122 x 28 cms. Shows a young beauty carrying a box. She wears an apron and has a towel slung over her shoulder, so is presumably an assistant in […]
Utagawa TOYOKUNI I (1769-1825)
Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. An original drawing by the first Toyokuni. An hanshita-e diptych for a published set of triptychs with title: Yakusha juni tsuki, “Actors in the Twelve Months.” Shows the actors (from the left) Bando Mitsugoro III holding a pipe; Iwai Hanshiro V […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Oi, a suburb of present day Ena City, is in the southern foothills of the central mountain range now known as the Japan Alps. Shows a group of travellers heavily protected against the snow and cold. From Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set […]
Utagawa KUNISADA II (1823-1880)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing Prince Genji in a boat with attendant page and a lady watching female awabi (abalone) divers called ama. These women were a great curiosity for the public and seen as rather risqué characters. Prince Genji was the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu’s Heian-era novel The Tale […]
Kawamura BUMPO (1779-1821)
Click here to view image full size. I volume complete Bumpo gafu (Sampen), “Album of Drawings by Bumpo” (3rd Series”). Original light grey covers with burnished pattern. Original title slip. Preface 3 pp., with 18 double-page and 32 single-page illustrations in sumi and light colour numbered 1 – 35. Colophon dated Bunka 10 (1813).(First edition.) […]
Hosoda EISHI (1736-1829)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and colour on silk, 33.25 x 12 in; 84.5 x 30.5 cms. Shows a parading oiran, a high class courtesan, beneath falling cherry blossom. A parade was held every April in the Yoshiwara under the spring cherry blossom. Her costume is decorated with a […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Suketakaya Takasuke IV as Sakuramaru from a fine set of prints showing actors glimpsed through their dressing room sliding doors, prior to going on stage. Their figures partly silhouetted as are their assistants, here aiding the actor with his sword. From a set Gakuya nikai kage […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Onoe Kikugoro V as Hisayoshi from a fine set of prints showing actors glimpsed through their dressing room sliding doors, prior to going on stage. Their figures partly silhouetted as are their assistants, here aiding the actor with his costume. From a set Gakuya nikai kage […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e (preparatory drawing) for a published diptych showing, on the left, the actor Onoe Kikujiro II as Tatsuhime – in reality Yawata, the younger sister of Kotoda. On the right is Iwai Kumesaburo III as Kudo Kanaishimaru. The play is Matsu icho Tsurukame Soga performed at […]
Kawabata GYOKUSHO (1842-1913)
Click here to view image full size. An original painted fan. On one side a bird amongst flowers and the reverse also with flowers. A leading figure in Tokyo art circles and the last great representative of the Shijo school. In exceptional condition with extensive gold leaf. Signed Gyokusho with seals Shibun on both sides. […]
50th Anniversary of dealing – Part 2
In the 70s and 80s I was buying prints by such artists as Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utamaro in the UK and in France and selling them in Japan. In Japan, I was buying prints by Yoshitoshi and Kuniyoshi. At that time those artists were not so highly valued by Japanese collectors. I travelled to […]
50th Anniversary of dealing – Part 1
Looking back on 50 years of dealing in Japanese prints, paintings and books I have much to be grateful for. From the first ukiyo-e print that I bought in 1968 to now when I have bought and sold many tens of thousands of prints. In researching specific prints I have built up my kno wledge […]
Selected Reference Titles
Listed here are selected titles of reference books that I refer to most regularly – this is not an exhaustive list! Asano, Shugo and Clark, Timothy, The Passionate Art of Kitagaway Utamaro, Asahi Shimbun, 1995 Forrer, Matthi and Goncourt, Edmond de, Hokusai, Rizzoli International Publications, 1988 Gentles, Margarent O., The Clarence Buckingham Collection of […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Gempei Yashima o-kassen, the great battle of Yashima in 1184. Shows Yoshitsune’s famous “eight-boat leap” (centre), Noritsune (left), and Benkei on the large boat (right). Published by Kawaguchiya Uhei, c. 1839-41. Very good impression and colour. Edge repair top left sheet, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ichiyusai […]