
Girl Combing her hair
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
Description
This second impression of the comb subject represents a variant within Tokuriki's recurring exploration of a single domestic motif, a practice common among sosaku-hanga artists who treated repeat subjects as opportunities to test color combinations and printing variants. The girl, focused inward on the act of grooming, presents an introspective counterpoint to the meisho-e subjects that dominated his commercial output. Treatments of this kind rely on careful registration to align the small comb against the dark hair mass, and on the contrast between the figure's worked surface and the flat plane of the surrounding paper. The carving of the hair employs short parallel cuts to suggest individual strands, while the kimono pattern is rendered through separate color blocks in the registered nishiki-e tradition. As with much sosaku-hanga figural work from the postwar decades, the subject combines references to classical bijin-ga compositions with a simplified, modern handling — Tokuriki was teaching at the Kyoto School of Painting through this period, and his pedagogical interest in figure construction shows through.
More Prints by Tomikichiro Tokuriki

Heian Shrine in the Spring
Woodblock print

An Oharame Girl Carrying Firewood on Her Head
20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

April (Arashiyama Park, a Famous Scenic Resort)
四月 (嵐山)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

June (Rainy Scene of the Sen-ke, Japanese Tea Ceremony Founder's House)
六月 (千家雨景)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
More Children Prints
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Girl Combing her hair was created by Tomikichiro Tokuriki (徳力富吉郎).
Girl Combing her hair depicts children.



