Natsukusa [Summer Grasses]

US$2,800.00

ENQUIRE

BUY

Natsukusa [Summer Grasses]

Tsuda, Seifū [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Yamada Naosaburō, Meiji 37 [1904].

One of the scarcest works by the highly regarded artist and graphic designer Tsuda Seifū (1880–1978), Natsukusa contains thirty woodblock-printed designs for uchiwa fans. Produced early in Seifū's career, the book already shows the strong sense of composition and careful observation of nature for which he later became known. The designs feature a wide range of motifs, including leaves, flowers, grasses, insects, birds, and landscapes. Many are executed in a Neo-Rinpa style, combining simplified forms with asymmetrical compositions and generous use of empty space. Distributed by the Kyoto firm Unsōdō, one of the principal publishers of zuan (design) books in the late Meiji and Taishō periods, the work belongs to an important period in the development of modern Japanese design when artists were adapting older decorative styles to new commercial forms and printed media. An exhibition devoted to Seifū's work, including many of his books published by Unsōdō, was held at the Shoto Museum of Art in 2022 and renewed interest in his contribution to twentieth-century Japanese design. A notable and scarce work.

One accordion-folding (orijō) volume, complete. Original boards considerably worn, stained, and discoloured, tape repair to right-hand side. Tape repairs internally to gutter. Ex-ownership panel to upper pastedown. Browning and occasional colour fading to leaf extremities. Marks and soiling to several of the designs, mainly from offsetting. Occasional oxidisation to metallic pigments. [Unpaginated]. 25.2 x 26 cm.

Natsukusa [Summer Grasses]
Price: $2,800.00 (USD)