Koizumi Kishio – Botanical Garden in May

Original woodblock print, hand-signed by the artist. First published in 1934. The current print was printed in the Showa period (1926 – 1989).

The current design is part of the series One Hundred Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era. Koizumi Kishio completed this series in 1937, but created nine new designs between 1939 and 1940 that replaced eight of the original hundred. There has been speculation about his reasons; he might simply have wished to provide improved versions of the initial designs, but his motives remain uncertain. The current print was among the eight original designs for which an alternative was later created.

Image size (excluding margins): 28.2 * 37.2 cm (11.1 * 14.6 in).

The print is in fair state. There are many wrinkles inside the image. There are some foxing spots in the margins, and the upper margin has soiled slightly. The colors have been retained well.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Koizumi Kishio (1893–1945) is renowned as the creator of the print series One Hundred Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era. Created between 1928 and 1940, the series chronicles Tokyo in the years leading up to the war, and its prints remain widely sought after. As a member of the Sosaku Hanga movement, Koizumi carved and printed his woodblocks himself, working in a distinctive style that has retained its artistic appeal.

After completing One Hundred Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era, Koizumi began the series Thirty-six Views of the Sacred Peak of Mount Fuji. Although it was intended to comprise 36 designs, only 23 were finished. He became ill during the final years of the war, after being forced to evacuate Tokyo, and passed away in 1945.

See an overview of Koizumi Kishio's woodblock prints