Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Landscapes of the Four Seasons

Size: 23.5cm by 29.5cm (9.25 in by 11.61 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Sesshu

Era: Taisho | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 7,000$ 57.00£ 43.25€ 51.25 [Item has been sold]

Description: Part of a monthly subscription series of three woodblock prints issued by the Yamato Hanga Kanko-kai in ca. 1924.


The original painting for this print is a monumental Chinese ink painting on a handscroll, approximately 16 meters in length, titled "四季山水図巻" (Four Seasons Landscape Scroll). Created in 1486 when Sesshu was 67 years old, it is considered his masterpiece. This scroll was reportedly painted as an offering to Koryoji Temple on Mount Hyojo, the family temple of the Ouchi clan, Sesshu's patron. You can view the entire scroll on this Japanese website. This print depicts a section from the end of the scroll, showing the scene of 太鼓橋で語らう高士 (Scholars conversing on a drum bridge) and continuing to にぎわう山村 (A bustling mountain village).

Note: this print was made back in the era when Japan's industries were opening up to Western ideas and influences, and used what would these days be called a 'mixed media' approach in its creation.

Some parts of the image were put onto the paper with the collotype printing technique, based on photography from the original design. This part of the process would include registration marks, and once the collotype was printed, the paper would be trimmed to those marks, and other areas of the design then printed by hand from woodblocks in the traditional manner.

There are slight foxing spots on this print. Also, some traces of glue removal are at the top of the backside.

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