A Collection of Seiho's Masterworks - Issued by the Kyoto publisher Unsodo between 1937 and 1942, "Seiho's Masterworks" includes a total of 63 prints of landscapes and nature subjects. Seiho personally chose the designs, and worked with the carvers and printers to adapt new technologies into the printing process, breaking new ground in traditional Japanese printmaking. Many of the woodblocks incorporate collotype, a photographic process that produces extremely fine detail, to beautifully capture the fluid brushstrokes and soft gradations of color in Seiho's lyrical paintings.

"Seiho's Masterworks" is also one of the rarest of modern Japanese woodblock print series. Jack Hillier suggests that fewer than one hundred copies were printed by Unsodo, and the firebombing of Tokyo during WWII in Spring 1945 destroyed all the blocks, which were then in the Tokyo studio of master printer Shinmi Saburo, and likely many printed copies as well. The prints were issued in a series of folders containing multiple designs. This first and only edition is a rare and fantastic choice for the serious modern collector.

Takeuchi Seiho - Considered one of the founders of modern Japanese painting, Takeuchi Seiho initially studied with the Maruyama-Shijo school in Kyoto. After traveling in Europe in 1900 - 1901, he incorporated Western techniques into his style, creating a unique and harmonious synthesis of Western and traditional Japanese art. An influential teacher, he established his own private school and also taught at the Kyoto Municipal College of Painting. Sketching from life, Seiho beautifully captured the essence of the landscapes, animals, and plants that he depicted. This highly gifted and innovative artist received the first Order of Cultural Merit award from the Japanese government in 1937.

Artist - Takeuchi Seiho (1864 - 1942)

Image Size - 18 5/8" x 14 3/8"

Condition - This print with excellent detail as shown. A few spots, a few light creases at edges. Please see photos for details.