Catalog: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Woodblock Prints (2)

Rare Artist's Proof by Japanese Woodblock Print Artist, Gen Yamaguchi (1896 - 1976): Poetry of Early Autumn (1948). Illustrated in Yamaguchi, pl. 61. This is the artist's proof of this image, created for the artist's approval before the set of fifty prints were created. Yamaguchi achieved an international reputation when he was awarded first prize at the International Print Biennale in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, 1957, and a grand prix at Lugano, Switzerland in 1958. He experimented constantly, manipulating his materials and images as he sought to achieve innovative results. The Gen Yamaguchi Memorial Prize is now a top prize in Japan for woodblock print artists. Frame: 19.5h x 18w inches, 49.5 x 45.75 cm; Print: 11h x 11.25w inches, 28 x 28.5 cm. From the collection of Irwin Hersey, renowned author on Asian and primitive art, and publisher of the Primitive Art Newsletter in the 1970s. Irwin Hersey was an advisor to museums and prominent collectors, and vetted pieces for many of the international tribal art fairs and Asian art fairs.

Rare Image by Japanese Woodblock Print Artist, Saito Kiyoshi (1907 - 1997). The Saito Kiyoshi Museum in Japan is devoted entirely to the work of this artist, and his work is in many other museums, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His work was exhibited at the Salon Printemps in 1948, and in 1951 he received first prize at the inaugural Sao Paolo Bienniale. Influenced by Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Gauguin, Odilon Rodin and Edvard Munch - among other famous artists, his unique images combine traditional Japanese elements with Modern, Cubist, Abstract and Impressionist qualities. Frame: 26.5 x 21 inches, 67.25 x 53.25 cm; Print: 22 x 16.5 inches, 56 x 42 cm. From the collection of Irwin Hersey, renowned author on Asian and primitive art, and publisher of the Primitive Art Newsletter in the 1970s. Irwin Hersey was an advisor to museums and prominent collectors, and vetted pieces for many of the international tribal art fairs and Asian art fairs.