Yamamura Toyonari: Pelicans Bookplates

Yamamura Toyonari (Japanese, 1885–1942)
Pelicans (Perikan), 1924

Yamamura Toyonari is perhaps best known for paintings and prints of Kabuki actors, as part of the Japanese shin hanga (“new prints”) movement. Around 1924 he broke from tradition, making strong use of light and shadow in sophisticated prints that reflected the increasing modernization of Japan.