A beautiful and bucolic Koitsu design of rain falling at Kofukuji or Kofuku Temple in Nara. Draping willow trees frame the view of the lake with the temple spire rising in the distance. A solitary figure under an orange umbrella strolls along a path on the far side of the water, the reflections vividly captured in the lake’s still waters.
The Woodblock Print
This oban-sized woodblock is in excellent condition. Untrimmed margins, extremely clean, and a lovely richly-colored printing without any discolorations. No publisher mark, but we’re assuming it’s a later-edition printing based on the paper. Please note that the bottom margin is not trimmed; the scanner truncated the image file.
About the Artist
Tsuchiya Koitsu (土屋光逸, September 23, 1870 – November 13, 1949) is a well-known artist of the Shin-Hanga movement who specialized almost exclusively in landscape images.
Born in 1879 in rural Japan with the given name Koichi. He became a student of the ukiyo-e master Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847-1915) after starting an apprenticeship for a woodblock carver who worked for Kobayashi. Soon the ukiyo-e master himself took care of the young Koitsu, where he stayed and worked for 19 years in the home of his master. From 1931 on, Tsuchiya Koitsu became one of the artists working for the publisher Watanabe in the shin-hanga style. His style is reminiscent of the works of his master Kobayashi and of the famous shin-hanga artists Kawase Hasui and Hiroshi Yoshida. In typical shin-hanga style Tsuchiya Koitsu intensively used the effects of light to create moods and emotions in his images.
