Title : Before the Rain, Mono Lake

Artist : Obata Chiura

Date : 1930

Details : More information...

Source : Japanese Art Open Database
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Description : Saturday, 29 August 2009 Artist: Chiura Obata Title: Before the Rain, Mono Lake Print Type: Original Japanese Woodblock Print Series Title: World Landscape Series Edition No: First, and only Date: 1930 Publisher: Takamizawa Color-Print Studio, Tokyo Reference No: Obata's Yosemite, p. 19 Size: 11 x 15-3/4 " (image); 13 x 18" (paper) Price: Sold Condition: Very fine. Notes: Obata comments, "Mono Lake shows a maidenly beauty when it is still and quiet. Trembling, the lake awaits the approaching rain, the clouds of which hoaver over the distant mountain ridges." Begun in 1928 when Obata visited Japan, the World Landscape Series took 18 months to complete. The project required the work of 32 block carvers and 40 printers with each print requiring from 100 to as many as 160 impressions in order to accurately replicate Obata's original watercolors. The folio consisted of 35 colored woodblock prints. All but one show California scenes, and 27 are views of Yosemite and the High Sierra. It is believed that 100 folios were sent to the artist. Not all of the prints were signed and sealed. Each print has the publishers name stamped on the reverse. The folder illustration shows the publisher's watermark, visible below the title slip. PRINTS BY OBATA IN FINE CONDITION, EXHIBITING FRESH COLORS, AS WITH THESE, ARE VERY RARE.

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