Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
This untitled work by Ishiwata Koitsu belongs to his documented body of atmospheric woodblock prints, its specific subject unknown. The shin-hanga movement in which he worked produced prints for a market that valued mood and atmosphere as much as subject matter — collectors choosing prints for the quality of feeling they evoked rather than the fame of the place depicted. This print, whatever its subject, was selected for production because it achieved those atmospheric qualities that made Ishiwata's work valued.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu) was created by Ishiwata Koitsu (石渡光逸).
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu) depicts landscapes, night scenes, and animals.
