Torii Kotondo - A native of Tokyo, Torii Kotondo 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 bijin-ga. Kotondo's prints are considered some of the most stunning beauty designs and great masterworks of the 20th century woodblock print tradition. His output of prints was a very small (22 works total), and the number of prints produced of each image was also limited. Original Kotondo prints are very rare and highly sought after by collectors today.

Comments - Incredibly beautiful Kotondo portrait of a young beauty captured in a private moment, combing her long hair after a bath. Her pale skin tone contrasts beautifully with the light-blue gray background of swirling baren marks, a deluxe printing technique known as "baren sujizuri." The outlines of her body are rendered in embossing only, a lovely detail. This print was produced in a limited edition of 300, with an embossed and hand-numbered seal on the reverse (see detail below). Most certainly, a shin-hanga woodblock print masterwork of the 20th century and very rare opportunity to collect.

Signed> - Kotondo saku
Seal - Kotondo
Publisher - Kawaguchi with publisher's seal at lower right br>Carver/Printer - Ito /Komatsu Wasakichi
Numbered - 19? (last number is not clear)

Artist - Torii Kotondo (1900 - 1976)

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

Condition - This print with excellent detail as shown. Slight thinning on reverse at top corner, hole and pinpoint hole in margin, repaired. Toning, a few creases at edges. Please see photos for details.