"Seto Inland Sea, in Autumn" (Setonaikai) - Rare - NO RESERVE PRICE - Kusaka Kenji 日下賢二 (b 1936) - Published by Unsodo - Japan

Handsome evening view of the Seto Inland Sea, in Autumn, with a full moon mirroring in the water of a calm sea with shades of blue and a couple of stretched clouds in the sky. Beautiful colors.

The Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海, Setonaikai) lies between the Japanese main islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Its calm waters stretch over 400 kilometers from Osaka to Kitakyushu and include some 3000 islands, many of which are inhabited. The area is part of the Setonaikai National Park, one of the first National Parks designated in Japan.

Technique: Woodblock print
Title: "Seto Naikai - aki" (Seto Inland Sea in Autumn)
Artist: Kusaka Kenji
Kenji character's and artist's red seal in lower left of image.
Authentic watermark in left bottom corner margin.

First issue ca.60s, this is later edition using original woodblocks by Unsodo Japan.

Conditions: excellent conditions as new
Paper size: 405 x 275 mm
Image size: 363 x 237 mm

Kusaka Kenji (日下賢二) was born in Tsuyama in Okayama prefecture in 1936. Starting in 1950, he learned the basics of printmaking from Nagare Koji (born 1905), a member of the Nihon Hanga-in (Japanese Print Institute), who taught in Okayama. At that time, Kusaka designed landscapes and still lifes, as well as occasional portraits and scenes of farm life (where he grew up).
Prints by Kusaka Kenji can be found in important public institutions, including British Museum, London; Cleveland Museum of Art; Colorado State Museum of Modern Art, Denver; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Honolulu Museum of Art; Kanagawa Prefectural Museum; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.

Shipment with tracking
We do combine shipments for woodblock prints, please see our weekly selection of Japanese fine arts!
Thank you!