Japanese Woodblock Print, c.1985, 1st Ed., artist's proof numbered E.A., self-published

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 17 x 13 inches

COMMENTS: Rarely seen, Noboru Yamataka's woodblock prints capture the fast disappearing traditional life and architecture of rural Japan. He is also one of Japan's most famous bookplate designers.

NOBORU YAMATAKA (b.1926) was born in Tokyo in 1926. He studied literature and graduated from the literature department of Tokyo University in 1945. Yamataka Noboru is a self-taught artist. He worked as an editor for a Japanese book publishing company for 37 years and had nearly missed his real vocation: creating woodblock prints. The artist was already 50 years old when he could finally hold his first solo exhibition.

In addition to annual solo exhibitions in Tokyo, and inclusion in the CWAJ print shows since 1973, Yamataka's work is held in the collections of Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Japan; Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo; Bunkyo Museum, Tokyo; Ota Ward Folk Museum, Toky; the Shinjuku Historical Museum, Tokyo; and the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

VG, minor flaws as shown