Rare AN INTERIOR by KIYONAGA Artistic order Japan Lithograph 1889 Japanese Antique Print S.Bing Liberty London Japanese Domestic Family Scene

We are offering a selection of rare and exquisite colour and monochrome chromolithographs from the publication:

ARTISTIC JAPAN a monthly illustrated journal.

Publ. St Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane], London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1888-1891
Artistic Japan: a monthly illustrated journal of arts and industries

Bing, Samuel, 1838-1905; Huish, Marcus Bourne, 1845-1921; Liberty & Co. (Firm : London)

Colour Lithograph. Publ. 1889.


AN INTERIOR By KIYONAGA

Plate BHF is by Torii Kiyonaga. We order know that the school of the Torii artists, beginning with their founder Kiyonobu, applied themselves almost exclusively to theatrical prints, scenes on the stage, or portraits of actors. Kiyonaga was the first of the school to break with this tradition, the first to stray in search of subjects out of the paths trodden by his predecessors. He enlarged the too exclusive field of their art by reproducing scenes from every day life, depicting the people in the midst of whom he lived, and that with a powerfulness of drawing and a faithfulness which entitle him to rank as one of the great masters of the Ukioyé. He certainly cannot be reproached with uniformity and lack of expression in the physiognomy. All his figures show clearly the feelings by which they are moved, and the social status to which they belong. In this family scene in front of a house, the open window frames of which allow us a peep into a little garden, he shows us with a telling simplicity the tender care of a mother who has turned from her household cares to watch her little child eating. The difference between the refined features of the mother and the broad, heavy face of the servant girl is most striking .

Condition: Very good, commensurate to age. Age toning to outside border edges.

The nearest true colour of the actual paper can be seen in the photo that includes the white mount surround.

Photographed on a black background. Card mount not included.

Dimensions approx: 23.5cm x 32cm (9”x 12.5”)

Image size approx: 13.5cm x 28cm


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Among the publications that appeared toward the end of the 19th century with the aim of educating the European and American public about the art of Japan, few were as successful or as visually compelling as ARTISTIC JAPAN. Appearing in monthly instalments from mid 1888-1891 the magazine reached wide audiences by being printed in three languages ( French, German and English). This international character paralleled the breadth of the JAPONISME movement of which ARTISTIC JAPAN became one of the most visible and popular manifestations. The issues were lavishly illustrated, taking advantage of the most modern achievements in colour printing and included examples of Japanese art selected from leading European collections. The magazine became a visual encyclopaedia of Japanese art and a valuable source of inspiration for artists and designers around the globe perhaps most notably the artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Founded and compiled by the German art dealer S. (Siegfied) Bing (1838-1905).

Bing's declared aim in producing the journal was to “stimuler l'intérêt des amateurs”and “exercer une influence sur le goût, la culture, l'art et la constitution des collections publiques et privées” (stimulate the interest of amateurs and to influence the taste, culture, art and formation of public and private collections) in the art of Japan. One of the publication's chief sponsors was the fashionable London retail firm Liberty & Co. who had a full-page colour advertisement for their art fabrics on the back page of every issue of the English edition.The journal contains a series of illustrated essays on architecture, engraving, Hokusai's “Man-gwa”, the decoration of swords, Ritsuo and his School, netsukés and okimonos, the theatre in Japan, Hiroshigé, the poetic tradition in Japanese art, Animals in Japanese art, and Korin.Among contributors to Artistic Japan were Edmond de Goncourt, Roger Marx, Victor Champier, and Eugène Guillaume. The editor of the English edition was Marcus B. Huish (1843-1921).