Kobayashi Kiyochika – Fireflies on River Bank

Japanese woodblock print. The first edition of this design was published circa 1930. The current print was printed circa 1930s.

The woodblocks for this design were not carved during the lifetime of Kobayashi Kiyochika, and thus without his involvement. This also explains why the print is so different in style from other Kobayashi Kiyochika prints. It seems to have been based on a much earlier print by Kobayashi Kiyochika that has a similar composition.

Most dealers do not list that even the first edition of this print was already posthumous, and indeed some care should be taken when buying Japanese woodblock prints attributed to a certain artist. That does however not mean that such prints are of bad quality. In fact, the opposite is true in this case and it is a very well-printed design, as is true for a good number of reprints from the 1930s. Carvers and printers were very skilled and publishers of prints after earlier artists or of reprints still had to compete in a time of superb Shin-hanga production. A lack of involvement of the original artist was perhaps disadvantageous for such an artist and other publishers, but buyers would still receive a very well-printed design.

Image size (excluding margins): 26.0 * 18.9 cm (10.2 * 7.4 in).

The print has been trimmed to the image.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

See an overview of Kobayashi Kiyochika's woodblock prints