Torii Kotondo, 20th century master - Torii Kotondo was a native of Tokyo. He was one of the great shin-hanga masters who excelled in the art of the beauty print. Prints such as his exquisite nude "Kamisuki," the demure beauty in the print titled "Sash," and his lovely image of a young woman in winter in "Peony Snowflakes" are all classic examples of Kotondo's mastery of the beauty print. Kotondo's prints are considered some of the most stunning beauty designs and great masterworks of the 20th century wood block print tradition. His output of beauty prints was a very small (22 works total), and the number of prints produced of each image was also small. Original Kotondo prints are very rare and highly sought after by collectors today. His best images easily exceed $10,000 in the Japanese print market.

Yuge (Vapor) - Lovely portrait of a young woman in the bath, looking down with a pensive expression as she pats the side of her face with a light blue cloth. Her hair is pulled back into a soft bun delicately framing her face, adorned with a colorful comb and a red tie-dyed ribbon. The steam or vapor rising from the hot water of the bath is rendered with swirling baren marks softly shaded from blue to gray, contrasting beautifully with her pale skin tones. An exquisite shin hanga beauty subject and a fantastic choice for a collector. This limited, first edition print from a release of 200 woodblocks features the embossed title "Yuge" in the lower margin, with the publisher "Sakai/Kawaguchi" embossed in the lower left margin. The limited edition seal on reverse is hand numbered "97" and signed by the artist, with red seal. Includes a small "Made in Japan" stamp on reverse along with a pencil notation reading "97/200 Special artist's selection from the edition." We are also including a label that accompanied the print from the Gallery Kabutoya in San Francisco.

Signed - Kotondo ga
Sealed Kotondo
Publisher - Sakai and Kawaguchi
Numbered - 97/200

Artist - Torii Kotondo (1900 - 1976)

Image Size - 10 1/4" x 16 1/8" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail. Some minor toning. A couple lightly toned spots. Please see photos for details. Very nice overall.