Japanese Woodblock Print, 1950s published by Kyoto Hanga-In

SIZE IN INCHES: print 5.5 x 3.75 inches; backing 7.5 x 5.5 inches

TOBEI KAMEI (1901-1977) was born in Yuasa-cho, in Wakayama Prefecture with the given name of Eiichi. He studied traditional Japanese painting at the Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting. Soon he began to create woodblock prints. He exhibited his works, paintings and prints, at the exhibitions of Kokuga Creation Association, Teiten and Shunyo-kai. In 1929 the artist was one of the founding members of Kyoto Sosaku Hanga Kyokai, a group of Kyoto artists dedicated to the sosaku hanga philosophy of printmaking. After 1945 Tobei Kamei cooperated closely with his Kyoto fellow artists Tokuriki Tomikichiro and Kotozuka Eiichi in promoting the creation and distribution of sosaku hanga prints. Tokuriki had founded a publishing company to support the self-carced, self-printed woodblock prints.

In order to make a living, Tobei Kama also created prints in cooperation with the Kyoto publishers Uchida and Unsodo. These prints followed the traditional concept of the ukiyo-e teamwork of artist, carver, printer and publisher. All famous Kyoto printmakers dedicated to the sosaku hanga concept (self-carced, self-printed, self-published) also created artisan prints (shin hanga prints) in cooperation with Kyoto publishers, mainly Uchida and Unsodo. The best known of these artists who followed two printmaking philosophies at the same time, were Tomikichiro Tokuriki, Takeji Asano, Benji Asada, Shiro Kasamatsu, Eiichi Kotozuka and Tobei Kamei. Tobei Kamei lived and worked in Kyoto until his death in 1977.

VG, with flaws as shown