Kishio Koizumi

1893-1945

One Hundred Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era: Oil Tanks in Senju (no. 4)
(Showa dai Tokyo hyakuzue: Senju tanku-gai)

self-carved, self-printed; signed within the composition, Izumi, with artist's red archaic seal, Koizumi Kishio ga to, print title on the upper left margin in black, Senju tanku-gai, series title on the right hand margin, Showa dai Tokyo hyakuzue, followed by the dated and numbered, hanga kanseiban, dai gonen kugatsu saku, yon kei (complete print series, 5th year [1930], 9th month, no. 4), and signed in pencil, Koizumi Kishio, 1930

dai oban yoko-e 11 7/8 by 15 1/2 in., 30.2 by 39.5 cm

In 1928 Kishio Koizumi released the first print of this ambitious series of 100 designs. Entirely self-carved and self-printed, the series would take nine years to complete during a period of rapid expanding and rebuilding of Tokyo and tumultuous political and social change in Japan. Koizumi's views of Tokyo reflected an interest in the modernization of the city while at the same time a sense of nostalgic pride in traditional Japan.

Koizumi's comment on this work in the annotated index suggests that the design had a political response: This work was well received and its ‘left wing’ style was a source of comment.

References:
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 132, no. 1227
James T. Ulak et. al, Tokyo: The Imperial Capital, Woodblock Prints by Koizumi Kishio, 2003, p. 45, pl. 3
James T. Ulak, Tokyo Modern-II, Koizumi Kishio's 1940 Annotations on "100 Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era," Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Visualizing Cultures (visualizingcultures.mit.edu), 2009 (Koizumi translation)
Noemi Raquet and Chris Uhlenbeck, Urban Landscapes and Leisure, Nihon no hanga, 2009, p. 53, no. 38
The Wolfsonian-Florida International University, Miami Beach, Florida, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, no. TD1993.69.1.104
(inv. no. 10-5605)

offered as a set

price: (reserved)