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Toyohara CHIKANOBU
(1838 - 1912)
"Customs of the Eastern Capital" (Azuma Fuzoku)
- The tenth month: Maple viewing in autumn -

Preparatory brush drawing in sumi (black ink) on thin paper,
with red underdrawing, several pentimenti.

Signed:                 (unsigned, as usual)
Date:                    1901
Paper size:           24 x 32. 5 cms / c. 9 1/2" x 12 3/4")

From a private collection of preparatory drawings by Chikanobu. The drawings apparently had
been kept in a filer, and so have small punch holes along the right margin.



ref. no.: # S-0462
Price:  € 3,250.00

Preparatory drawing for a series of twelve prints, entitled "Customs of the Eastern Capital" (Azuma Fuzoku), depicting scenes of daily life in Edo, each associated to one of the twelve months of the year. Our drawing represents the tenth month and depicts a typical activity of the season: maple viewing in autumn. In a beautiful autumn landscape with a range of rocks and a river, an old man, a woman and a young boy wearing a bamboo-patterned kimono, are viewing the colorful scenery. - The series was published by Matsuki Heikichi in 1901.

The preparatory drawing conveys a good picture of Chikanobu’s design approach as seen in the differences between the red underdrawing and the more detailed drawing in black ink. In addition, several pentimenti show further corrections. This work is a very good example of Chikanobu's creativity and great artistic talent.

The picture at right shows a sample of the finished print (not part of this lot).

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