Kotondo is best known for bijin-ga, but his complete oeuvre includes actor prints and other figure subjects. His small corpus of only 21 designs ensures that all authenticated period impressions carry collector interest and scarcity premiums.
A woman applies rouge to her lips, her gaze directed toward a hand mirror. Kotondo enriches the surface with powdered mica, creating the shimmering background associated with his most technically refined prints. The January 1932 date places this among the late masterworks of his active bijin-ga period, a phase that produced only a handful of subjects before his output essentially ceased. The mica ground elevates the intimate gesture of lip rouge into something luminous.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Lip Rouge was created by Torii Kotondo (鳥居言人) in January 1932.
Lip Rouge was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (January 1932).
Lip Rouge depicts figures, bijin-ga, and portraits.
Lip Rouge measures 40.8 × 25.7 cm (Oban format).
