'Moon over Kinkakuji Temple' from a Series: Views of Kyoto
This original small format woodblock print depicts the Golden Pavillion (Kinkakuji).  It is a classic transitional print that embodies shin hanga, and hints at sosaka hanga, a movement in which the artist handles all aspects of producing a print.  This print was produced c1938-1940.  There is an old mend on the edge of the print. It measures 3.5" x 5.5", and the frame measures 5.75" x 7.75".  P6527    $85
 
Okumura, Koichi (1904 - 1974 )
Koichi Okumura was a 20th century landscape painter and print designer best known for his views of Kyoto. Born in Kyoto, Okumura studied Japanese-style painting with Goun Nishimura and graduated from Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting. He built his reputation as a landscape painter and actively exhibited his paintings in state-sponsored exhibitions in the years before WWII. Following the end of the war, American soldiers provided a newfound audience for woodblock prints. Beginning in 1948, Okumura worked with the publisher Unsodo and designed several print series, such as Twelve Views of Kyoto (1948). Okumura taught at Saga Fine Arts Junior College and became a professor at Kyoto City University of the Arts.