Japanese Woodblock Print, originally published c.1910-20, this 1998, published by Kuroneko-ya

SIZE IN INCHES: 13.75 x 19.25 inches

COMMENTS: "Taisho no Onna" (Woman in the Taisho Period). A beauty is in her thoughts drinking a cocktail with a long straw.Printed without the black key-block lines to simulate the light, watercolor sketch look.

TAKEHISA YUMEJI (1884-1934) was born in Okayama, moved to Tokyo in 1901. He was a self-taught artist, who tried his hand at many things during his life: he wrote poetry and picture books, he designed picture postcards, he ran a shop with various craft objects and self-designed prints, and last but not least he was successful as a woodblock print artist and as a painter. Today Yumeji is a very popular artist, especially in Japan, and his prints and paintings of Taisho era beauties are in demand.

In 1931 Yumeji made a trip to the US where he exhibited and taught in California. On his return to Japan he was hospitalized and he died of tuberculosis in a sanitorium. His self-published prints of 1914-16 were posthumously republished.

VG no flaws of note