TotalCount

Date:: 1987
Medium:: Woodblock print
Source:: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Typical Price

Key value factors: For living or recently deceased artists, limited edition size and gallery representation drive value. Signed and numbered prints from smaller editions are most desirable.

Common examples: $100–$400
Good impressions: $400–$1,500
Premium/scarce: $1,500–$5,000

Description

TotalCount (1987) is an enigmatically titled woodblock print that departs from Kokei's usual practice of identifying kabuki actors and their roles. The title may reference an enumeration — perhaps a count of prints produced, performances attended, or roles documented — or it may function as an abstract concept applied to visual form. Within Kokei's otherwise systematic catalog of kabuki portraiture, occasional works with non-theatrical titles suggest a parallel creative impulse, moments when the artist steps away from the stage to explore other subjects or formal ideas using the same woodblock technique he applies to actor prints.