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

MIZUNO TOSHIKATA (1866 - 1908) A YOUNG WOMAN AT A CLOTH SHOP
Woodcut, 1894, from the series '36 Examples of Beauties', published by Akiyama Buemon. Signed and sealed 'Toshikata'. Very good impression and colour, in very good condition. Album backing. 'Oban', 355 x 235 mm.

Toshikata studied at the school of Yoshitoshi. He also apprenticed for a time with a ceramic painter and studied traditional Japanese painting with Shibata Hoshu and Watanabe Seitei. In the late 1890s, the Sino-Japanese War stimulated a revival of ukiyo-e printmaking and hundreds of designs were made. Toshikata was among the artists that were able to sell their designs during this period. His war prints are thought to be among the best reports of the events of the war. He also published a number of series of bijin prints and genre scenes.