Posts by Richard Kruml:
Katsukawa SHUNKO (1743-1812)
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The actor Matsumoto Koshiro II, arms crossed, in a defiant stance. Shunko had a minor stroke at the age of 45 and subsequently had to work with his left hand using the go of Sahitsusai, “Studio of the Left-handed Brush.” Published c 1771-1772.
Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Shunko ga.
Status: Available
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The general Morozumi Masakiyo, Lord of Bungo and a retainer of the Takeda Clan (Shingen of Kai Province) in a battle with the Uesugi Clan (Kenshin of Echigo Province), The wars taking place between 1553 and 1563. From a set Koetsu yusho den, “Stories of Courageous Generals of […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Seki Sanjuro III as Saruta Hiko in the play Yoinakatomi Kiyome no mikagura staged at the Ichimura-za Theatre 8/1869. From a set of at least 22 prints published by Gusokuya Kahei, 1869. Kunichika was a hack artist who nevertheless produced some fine triptychs (horizontal and vertical) […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. An original fan painting, 6.5 x 17.5 in; 16.5 x 44.5 cms. Sumi and colour on treated paper. Shows a kappa appearing from the Sumidagawa and terrifying a man who runs for his life. Kappa were amphibious creatures found in rivers and ponds. Their bodies were covered with […]
Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839 – 1892)
Click here to view image full size. Watanabe no Tsuna on horseback in the rain. One of the finest designs from Wakan hyaku monogatari. Published by Daikin, 1865/2. Fine impression and colour. Minor wormage otherwise very good condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga. Status: Available
Mori SOSEN (1747-1821)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and light colour on silk, image size 8 x 10.75 in; 20.5 x 27.5 cms. His life is not well documented but he is known to have studied under the Kano artist Yamamoto Joshunsai (? -1781) before being drawn into Mauyama Okyo’s (1735-1795) artistic […]
Kawamata TSUNEYUKI (1677-c1744)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper, 14.5 x 21 in; 35.5 x 53.5 cms. The founder of the Kawamata School. (A pupil was Kawamata Tsunemasa.) Little is known of his life and there are few paintings: A group were in Christies NY, 27/10/1998, lots 40, 42, 44, […]
Nagasawa ROSETSU (1754-1799)
Click here to view image full size. An original fan painting, sumi on treated paper, 17 x 6.25 in; 43 x 16 cms. Shows two needlefish (family Belonidae).Rosetsu is considered one of the most important artists of the late Edo period but little is known of his short life – he died at forty-five, apart […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Onoye Kikugoro III as the ghost of Oiwa from a production of Yotsuya kaidan at the Morita Theatre, 1836. Probably the most famous Japanese ghost story. It was adapted by the playwright Tsuruya Nanboku IV for his friend Kikugoro in 1825. The left panel of a […]
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
Click here to view image full size. An important collection of original drawings by Kyosai laid into two accordion albums, opening horizontally, 13.5 x 10 inches. Approx 157 drawings ( one signed and sealed; one signed and dated [ 6th October Meiji 3,1870 ]; and one signed ). After the date is the place: Shinobazu […]
Utagawa YOSHIKAZU (Active c 1849-1867)
Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. A five-sheet original drawing (hanshita-e) showing a parade of beauties before a wicker fence and blossom. Bigyoku imayo hanazoroi, “An Assortment of Modern Beautiful Gems as Flowers.” Nice brushwork on the sumptuous kimonos. Sumi with sumi wash and light touches of […]
Imao KEINEN (1845-1924)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi on paper, image size 54 x 19.5 in; 137 x 49.5 cms. A pupil of Umegawa Tokyo and Suzuki Hyakunen. Keinen was an important figure in Kyoto art circles and considered the pre-eminent kachoga (bird and flower) artist at the end of the 19th […]
Ichiunsai KUNIHISA (1832-1891)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper with the black waistband heavily lacquered, image size 48 x 11 in; 122 x 28 cms. Shows a young beauty carrying a box. She wears an apron and has a towel slung over her shoulder, so is presumably an assistant in […]
Utagawa TOYOKUNI I (1769-1825)
Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. An original drawing by the first Toyokuni. An hanshita-e diptych for a published set of triptychs with title: Yakusha juni tsuki, “Actors in the Twelve Months.” Shows the actors (from the left) Bando Mitsugoro III holding a pipe; Iwai Hanshiro V […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Oi, a suburb of present day Ena City, is in the southern foothills of the central mountain range now known as the Japan Alps. Shows a group of travellers heavily protected against the snow and cold. From Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set […]
Utagawa KUNISADA II (1823-1880)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing Prince Genji in a boat with attendant page and a lady watching female awabi (abalone) divers called ama. These women were a great curiosity for the public and seen as rather risqué characters. Prince Genji was the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu’s Heian-era novel The Tale […]
Kawamura BUMPO (1779-1821)
Click here to view image full size. I volume complete Bumpo gafu (Sampen), “Album of Drawings by Bumpo” (3rd Series”). Original light grey covers with burnished pattern. Original title slip. Preface 3 pp., with 18 double-page and 32 single-page illustrations in sumi and light colour numbered 1 – 35. Colophon dated Bunka 10 (1813).(First edition.) […]
Hosoda EISHI (1736-1829)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and colour on silk, 33.25 x 12 in; 84.5 x 30.5 cms. Shows a parading oiran, a high class courtesan, beneath falling cherry blossom. A parade was held every April in the Yoshiwara under the spring cherry blossom. Her costume is decorated with a […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Suketakaya Takasuke IV as Sakuramaru from a fine set of prints showing actors glimpsed through their dressing room sliding doors, prior to going on stage. Their figures partly silhouetted as are their assistants, here aiding the actor with his sword. From a set Gakuya nikai kage […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Onoe Kikugoro V as Hisayoshi from a fine set of prints showing actors glimpsed through their dressing room sliding doors, prior to going on stage. Their figures partly silhouetted as are their assistants, here aiding the actor with his costume. From a set Gakuya nikai kage […]
Utagawa KUNITERU (Fl. mid-19th c.)
Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e (preparatory drawing) for a triptych showing the ground floor interior of a brothel in the Yoshiwara with courtesans and their assistants. These first drafts by the artist themselves survive because a more detailed drawing was needed by the blockcutter, and this was normally given to […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e (preparatory drawing) for a published diptych showing, on the left, the actor Onoe Kikujiro II as Tatsuhime – in reality Yawata, the younger sister of Kotoda. On the right is Iwai Kumesaburo III as Kudo Kanaishimaru. The play is Matsu icho Tsurukame Soga performed at […]
Kawabata GYOKUSHO (1842-1913)
Click here to view image full size. An original painted fan. On one side a bird amongst flowers and the reverse also with flowers. A leading figure in Tokyo art circles and the last great representative of the Shijo school. In exceptional condition with extensive gold leaf. Signed Gyokusho with seals Shibun on both sides. […]
50th Anniversary of dealing – Part 2
In the 70s and 80s I was buying prints by such artists as Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utamaro in the UK and in France and selling them in Japan. In Japan, I was buying prints by Yoshitoshi and Kuniyoshi. At that time those artists were not so highly valued by Japanese collectors. I travelled to […]
50th Anniversary of dealing – Part 1
Looking back on 50 years of dealing in Japanese prints, paintings and books I have much to be grateful for. From the first ukiyo-e print that I bought in 1968 to now when I have bought and sold many tens of thousands of prints. In researching specific prints I have built up my kno wledge […]
Selected Reference Titles
Listed here are selected titles of reference books that I refer to most regularly – this is not an exhaustive list! Asano, Shugo and Clark, Timothy, The Passionate Art of Kitagaway Utamaro, Asahi Shimbun, 1995 Forrer, Matthi and Goncourt, Edmond de, Hokusai, Rizzoli International Publications, 1988 Gentles, Margarent O., The Clarence Buckingham Collection of […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Gempei Yashima o-kassen, the great battle of Yashima in 1184. Shows Yoshitsune’s famous “eight-boat leap” (centre), Noritsune (left), and Benkei on the large boat (right). Published by Kawaguchiya Uhei, c. 1839-41. Very good impression and colour. Edge repair top left sheet, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ichiyusai […]
Onishi CHINNEN (1792-1851)
Click here to view image full size. One volume complete Azuma no teburi, “Customs of the Eastern Capital”. Published Bunsei 12 (1829). Original covers, light blue-grey with silver stencilled decoration. Original title slip (damaged). Inside front cover title Taihei Uzo (the original title). Artist: Chinnen, and publisher Sonando. 25 double page illustrations showing the inhabitants […]
Matsumura KEIBUN (1779-1843)
Click here to view image full size. A shijo brush drawing of a seabream and a lumpfish (?). One of Kyoto’s leading artists. Noted for his painting from nature. He studied with his older brother Matsumura Goshun as well as Maruyama Okyo. Sumi and light colour on paper, 10 x 14.75 in; 25.4 x 37.4 […]
Matsumura KEIBUN (1779-1843)
Click here to view image full size. A shijo brush drawing of a white horsehead and an acropomatidae (?). One of Kyoto’s leading artists. Noted for his painting from nature. He studied with his older brother Matsumura Goshun as well as Maruyama Okyo. Sumi and light colour on paper, 10.5 x 15 in; 26.7 x […]
Matsumura KEIBUN (1779-1843)
Click here to view image full size. A shijo brush drawing of a red seabream. One of Kyoto’s leading artists. Noted for his paintings from nature. He studied with his older brother Matsumura Goshun as well as Maruyama Okyo. Sumi and light colour on paper, 10.5 x 17 in; 26.7 x 43.2 cms. In […]
Matsumura KEIBUN (1779-1843)
Click here to view image full size. A shijo brush drawing of a gurnard and a snapper (?). One of Kyoto’s leading artists. Noted for his painting from nature. He studied with his older brother Matsumura Goshun as well as Maruyama Okyo. Sumi and light colour on paper, 10.5 x 17.75 in; 26.7 x 45.1 […]
Yanagawa SHIGENOBU (1787-1833)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting by this artist who was the pupil and then son-in-law of Hokusai. He was given the name Yanagawa (from his residence in the Honjo district of Edo) to distinguish him from other Shigenobu artists. A good book illustrator and surimono designer. He designed the first […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Onoe Taganojo II from a fine set of prints showing actors glimpsed through their dressing room sliding doors, prior to going on stage. Their figures partly silhouetted as are their assistants, here aiding the actor with his headpiece. From a set Gakuya nikai kage no hyoban, […]
Nishikawa Sukenobu, 1671-1750
Given names: Bunkado; Bunkadô; Fujiwara; Jitokusai; Jitokusō; Magoemon; “Uji” Nishikawa; Nishikawa Nishikawa Sukebê /Sukebê; Nishikawa Sukenobu; Saiō; Sukenobu; Uemon; Ukyô; Ukyō; Yûsuke Sukenobu was “The most accomplished and influential Ukiyo-e painter in Kyoto during the first half of the eighteenth century” [1]. He was born and died in Kyoto, the centre of […]
Maki Bokusen (1736-1824)
Given names: Bokusen; Maki-Nobumitsu Bokusen; Gekkotei; Hokusen; Hokutei; Hyakusai; Maki Shin’ei; Suke-emon; Tokoro; Utamasa. Bokusen was a Nagoya samurai of the local Owari Fief and ukiyo-e painter, printmaker and copperplate etcher. He was a student of Utamaro and also, as C H Mitchell states, a friend and acknowledged pupil of Hokusai although […]
ANONYMOUS (Late 18th century)
Click here to view image full size. An Uki-e, “floating picture” painting showing an interior with a puppet performance taking place. A puppeteer manipulates a female puppet in the centre, behind him two gidayu narrators and a shamisen player. A male puppet is being held behind a screen. Ladies behind a screen at right enjoy […]
Winter landscapes
Approximately 70% of Japan’s landscape is mountainous. In the past when travel into the mountains was difficult there was a large demand and great curiosity by the public to see those remote snow covered landscapes. Publishers and leading artists like Hiroshige and Hokusai responded to that demand by ensuring that every landscape set […]
Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Minamoto no Ushiwakamura battling with Kumasaka Chohan. From the fine set Yoshitoshi mushaburui, “Yoshitoshi’s Courageous Warriors.” Published by Kobayashi, 1883-1886 (this being 1883). Fine impression and colour. Light toning, otherwise fine condition. This is the first edition. There are a number of later states and the […]