Ito Shinsui´s ”Twelve Figures of Modern Beauties”

Never before has a complete collection of Ito Shinsui´s groundbreaking woodblock prints ”Twelve Figures of Modern Beauties” been offered by any auction house. Until now, at Crafoord Auktioner Stockholm. We are honored to be the one.

When the publisher and producer Watanabe Shozaburo met the artist Ito Shinsui in 1915 it was the beginning of a new era in traditional Japanese art. They were both young and ambitious. Shozaburo wanted to target the American and European markets where the interest in exotic, idealized Japan was increasing. His idea was to renew the traditional imagery of Japanese taste through modern printing styles and techniques that would please western collectors, but still use the classic ukiyo-e production method with a team (hanmoto) consisting of an artist who drew the picture, a carver that made the stocks, a printer for the brilliant colors and a producer to market and sell the result.

Ito Shinsui was perfect for this concept. Using the knowledge gained from traditional training he revolutionised the coloring of his prints. For instance the red color in his ”The Mirror” was printed over and over to get the right gloss.

Shinsui was born in Tokyo 1898 and started working already at the age of 9, as assistant typographer and lithographer at the Fukagawa Workshop of the Tokyo Printing Company. He soon became interested in painting and showed talent. 1911 he was invited to study with the ukiyo-e style painter and printmaker Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1973). Kiyokata was a pupil of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-92), the last great ukiyo-e artist and a member of the Utagawa school, known for their depictions of beautiful women and Kabuki actors. Just a year later Shinsui was exhibited at the Tatsumi gakai (Southeast Painting Society) and won much praise. The same year he won a prize at the Peace Memorial Tokyo Exposition.

Watanabe Shozaburo´s collaboration with a few young artists established the movement named shin-hanga (meaning new prints). The most significant artists were Kawase Hasui (landscapes), Ohara Koson (birds) and Ito Shinsui (bijin-ga, women). Both Hasui and Shinsui were considered national treasures and received numerous awards.

”Twelve Figures of Modern Beauties” was Watanabe Shozaburo´s and Ito Shinsui´s first large collection of bijin-ga. It was issued in an edition of 200 with one print released every month for a year. and distributed by the Ukiyo-e Kenkyukai (Association of Ukiyo-e Research). The work was very impressive both artistically and financially with the best artisans collaborating. One print though is made solely by Shinsui himself in the maner of sosaku-hanga.

Ito Shinsui was a member of the Japan Art Academy. He became declared a ”Intangible Cultural Property” in 1952 and received the Order of the Rising Sun in 1970.

”Twelve Figures of Modern Beauties” is one of Shinsui´s greatest achievements.

The complete collection that is now presented by Crafoord Auktioner Stockholm was aquired by the architect Axel Bergman in Stockholm around 1930, and has remained within the family since then. Individual prints in Shinsui´s serie has been presented by leading auction houses before, but never the complete collection. It is fair to say that this is a truly unique occassion.