<b>DOTONBORI</b> / Uehara Konen1928<B>SOLD</B></em>
ARTIST: Uehara Konen (1877-1940)
TITLE: Dotonbori
DATE: 1928
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DIMENSIONS: 15 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches
CONDITION: Light toning to margins and on reverse
LITERATURE: Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, pp. 33-34
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SOLD
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Details
Light spills out from the windows, down the veranda, and onto the river below. The bare branches of the weeping willing in the foreground direct the light down its descent. The composition is fluid and dramatic, while the water below incorporates the cascading light with the magic of the darkest part of the night.
Konen was mostly known as a Nihonga painter but had a brief association with the publisher and founder of Shin Hanga, Watanabe Shozaburo. With Watanabe, Konen produced only two full-sized woodblock prints in 1928: Fading Lamplight of a Pagoda (also offered in this exhibition) and this view of Dotonbori in.
Connoisseur's Note
This print bears a Watanabe C-type seal, making it a rare first-state impression. The print's condition is excellent, exhibiting colors as fresh as the day they were printed. This impression is also noteworthy due to its strong atmospheric quality and dramatic use of light throughout the composition.