Torii Kotondo (1900 - 1976)

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.