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Koitsu (1870 - 1949)

Tomonotsu, Inland Sea

Medium: Woodblock Print
Date: 1940
Size (H x W): 15.5 x 10.5 (inches)
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Seals: 6mm Watanabe seal
Signature: Koitsu with artist's seal
Condition: Good color and impression, tape marks, ink inscription.

SOLD

About the artist

Koitsu Tsuchiya's prints immortalize Japan's scenic beauty. Through subtle effects of light and shadow, Koitsu endowed his work with an aura of bewitching beauty. Born in 1870 outside Hamamatsu, his given name was Koichi. At the age of 15, he moved to Tokyo to study woodblock printing under Matsuzaki, a carver for the ukiyo-e master Kiyochika Kobayashi. However, he soon left Matsuzaki and became a student of Kiyochika himself. For 19 years, Koitsu lived in Kiyochika’s home, studying the art of Japanese woodblock printing. His first prints were war scenes of the Sino-Japanese war (1894-95). He later worked as a lithographer. In 1931, a chance meeting with the publisher Watanabe changed the course of his career. From that time on, Koitsu Tsuchiya specialized in Japanese landscape prints in the Shin Hanga style.