Shimura Tatsumi

1907-1980

Five Figures of Modern Beauties: Hair Of A Married Woman
(Gendai Bijin Fuzoku Gotai: Marumage)

woman looking at herself in a hand mirror sitting on purple cushion; signed Tatsumi, with artist's seal Tatsumi, with publisher's mark and seal on bottom margin, Nihon hanga kenkusho (Japanese Institute for Woodblock Prints); the block carver on the right-hand margin, horishi (carver) Nakagawa Chushichi, and surishi (printer) Onodera Ryuji, the title, Marumage, embossed at the center of the bottom margin, 1953

dai oban tate-e 18 1/4 by 11 1/8 in., 46.5 by 28.4 cm

Shimura Tatsumi became an apprentice to the shin hanga artist Yamakawa Shuho (1898-1944) in 1924, and the following year began to work as an illustrator for magazines, newspapers, and novels. The distinctive long eyelashes and large watery eyes of the beauties illustrated here were a hallmark of his depictions of women. From 1948-53 the collector and publisher Kato Junji (Junzo, d. 1976) published Tatsumi's bijinga, including this set in 1953 in limited editions of 200 with the Nihon Hanga Kenkyujo.

References:
Reigle Newland, Amy, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 183, no. 262

(inv. no. 10-2682)

price: $1,500