Mattia Jona, Master Drawings and Prints, Japanese Prints - Piazzetta Guastalla 5, 20122 Milan, Italy, tel (+39) 02 8053315

OGATA GEKKO (1859 - 1920) TWO WOMEN OF THE 3rd CENTURY EMBROIDERING
Woodcut, 1887, from the series 'Miscellaneous Designs by Gekko'. Signed 'Gekko', sealed 'Ogata Gekko'. Very good impression and colour (the orange cartouche oxidized); album backing, generally in very good condition. 'Oban', 359 x 238 mm.

Ogata Gekko worked as a painter, printmaker and decorator of lacquerware and pottery. He was a founding member of the Bunten (Ministry of Education Art Exhibitions, starting in 1907). Genre scenes from everyday life were his most common subjects. He produced a considerable number of war prints during and after the Sino-Japanese war. His print style is more reminiscent of paintings then traditional woodblocks and his designs required great skill of the carvers and printers who executed them.