Advanced search Advanced search

Tomikichirō Tokuriki (1902-2000), Skylights on the Uji River, Showa period, 1936.

add Your note 
Lot description

Color woodcut, ink, paper, 28.5x25.5 cm, artist's signature, publisher's stamp

Woodcut from the series "Fifteen Views of Kyoto."

Two species of skylights are widespread in Japan and have been named Genji-hotaru and Heike-hotaru, meaning "Minamoto skylight" and "Taira skylight." Legend has it that these skylights are the spirits of the old Minamoto and Taira warriors; that even in their insect shapes they remember a terrible clan battle from the 12th century. Once a year, on the night of the twentieth day of the fourth month, they fight a great battle on the Uji River. Nowadays, the most famous place for the skylights is in the neighborhood of Uji, in Yamashiro. A great spectacle, the Hotaru-Kassen, or Battle of the Skylights, takes place on the river at a site a few miles from the city.

Tokuriki Tomikichirō was a prominent printmaker in the circle of Kyoto artists in the 20th century. He came from a family with a long artistic pedigree. He graduated from the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts and the Kyoto Specialized School of Painting in 1924, and continued his study of Japanese-style painting with Bakusen Tsuchida (1887-1936) and Yamamoto Shunkyo (1871-1933). In the late 1920s, he met Unichi Hiratsuka, a key figure in the nascent sosaku hanga art movement. Unichi gave him lessons in printing woodcuts in the "sosaku" style: self-designed, carved, printed and published. This pivotal meeting redirected Tokuriki's attention to printmaking. In 1932, he became a member of the "Nihon Hanga Kyokai" association of sosaku hanga artists. At the same time, he worked with established ukiyo-e publishers such as Uchida and Unsodo. He designed outstanding prints for them in the shin hanga style. Shin hanga is a significant Japanese artistic trend that focused on traditional subjects such as landscapes, portraits of beautiful women and actors. It drew inspiration from European Impressionism, combining techniques of depicting light effects with individual emotions. The result of this combination was an art form characterized by technical brilliance, presenting a captivating, luminous new style of Japanese printmaking. Before and during the Pacific War, Tomikichiro created many sets of prints based on traditional themes, such as "Shin Kyoto fukei" ("New View of Kyoto," 1933-4) and "Tokyo hakkei" ("Eight Views of Tokyo," 1942). Most of these were published by Kyoto-based Uchida. After the war, Tokuriki established his own publishing company called Matsukyu, which also began teaching woodcutting to artisans and artists, many of whom were foreigners in later years. Until the 1970s. Tokuriki actively taught and wrote, producing a long series of articles on printing techniques in the magazine "Hanga geijutsu."

Tokuriki Tomikichiro died in 2000 in his native Kyoto at the age of 98. In the art world, especially among ukiyo-e collectors, he is considered a master of Japanese printmaking in the shin hanga style.

Auction
Japanese woodcuts part 15.
gavel
Date
24 February 2025 CET/Warsaw
date_range
Start price
71 EUR
Hammer price
314 EUR
Hammer price without Byuer's Premium
262 EUR
Overbid
440%
Views: 326 | Favourites: 10
Auction

Galeria Bohema

Japanese woodcuts part 15.
Date
24 February 2025 CET/Warsaw
Lots bidding

All lots are listed to bid

Buyer's premium
20.00%
OneBid does not charge additional fees for the bidding.
Bid increments
  1
  > 10
  100
  > 50
  400
  > 100
  2 000
  > 200
  4 000
  > 500
  10 000
  > 1 000
 
Terms and Conditions
About the Auction
FAQ
About the Seller
Galeria Bohema
Contact
Galeria Bohema
room
Środkowa 12
03-430 Warszawa
phone
+48 889 202 281
Tomikichirō Tokuriki star
Customers who bought the works of this artist also bought
keyboard_arrow_up
Centrum pomocy open_in_new