A beauty in Shintomi-cho district
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
$1,000–$10,000. Beauty prints by this artist are particularly sought after. Good bijin-ga prints: $3,000–$6,000. Key value factors: Yamakawa's limited output and early death at 46 make his prints relatively scarce. Quality bijin-ga command steady prices.
A Beauty in Shintomi-cho District places a young woman within the context of one of Tokyo's most culturally vibrant neighborhoods. Shintomi-cho, located in the Chuo ward, was famous during the Meiji and Taisho eras as an entertainment quarter where geisha houses and theaters flourished. Shuho situates his subject against this backdrop, her clothing and bearing suggesting a woman of refined taste who belongs to this world of performing arts and social elegance.
The oban-format woodblock print renders the figure with the soft facial modeling and careful textile patterning that define Shuho's bijin-ga work. Unlike the idealized, almost porcelain features favored by some shin-hanga contemporaries, Shuho tended to give his subjects a warmer, more naturalistic presence. The Shintomi-cho setting adds a layer of specificity rare in the genre, grounding the image in a real place rather than a timeless void.
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
A beauty in Shintomi-cho district was created by Yamakawa Shuho (山川秀峰).
A beauty in Shintomi-cho district was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
A beauty in Shintomi-cho district depicts urban scenes and bijin-ga.
