Taisui Inuzuka: Florals Notecard Folio

Little is known about Taisui Inuzuka. A shin hanga, or “new prints,” artist of the early twentieth century, he created a series of five floral woodblock prints during a transitional time for Tokyo publisher Kawaguchi, which in 1931 split from a partnership with Sakai. These two images of dahlias and morning glories, part of Inuzuka’s series of five, bear the post-split Kawaguchi seals and exemplify the high quality the publisher was known for, both before and after the team parted ways.

Such kacho-e, or “bird-and-flower prints,” stem from a long tradition that originated in tenth-century China and first appeared in Japan around the fifteenth century. But kacho-e subjects seemed unpopular among most shin hanga artists and, along with other prints of the time, were better received by Western collectors than at home. Indeed, these particular images were bought directly from Kawaguchi by an American collector shortly after their printing.

Contains five each of the following notecards:
Morning Glories in a Brown Pot, c. 1931
Dahlias in a Brown Vase, c. 1931