Artist: Kotozuka Eiichi (1906-1979)
Title: The Snow Scene of Kiyomizu Temple
Date: c1940
Edition: Unknown
Sig./Seal: 'Koto'and Uchida Publisher  Seals
Condition: Very good with dimples from backside folder
Size: F: 10 x 13.5      P: 8.25 x 11               $195
 
Kotozuka Eiichi (1906-1979)
Printmaker and painter Eiichi Kotozuka was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1906. He graduated from the Kyoto Technical School of Painting (Kyoto Kaiga Semmon Gakko) in 1930 and began exhibiting his work in 1932 - in particular, as a member of the Shun'yokai, a Japanese artists' association specializing in Western style art. Membership for woodblock printmaking included the Nihon Hanga Kyokai (Japan Print Association) from 1938, the government sponsored Teiten group, and Koryokusha, which he co-founded in 1948 with fellow sosaku hanga printmakers. As well, he was a member of Seiyusha, a Japanese style painting group that he helped found in 1929.
Following World War II he worked with the Uchida Publishing house to create portfolios in the Japanese style, including Eight Snow Scenes of Kyoto, Scenes from Four Historical Cities, Scenes from Shiga, Nara, and Kyoto, and more. He also illustrated children's books.
Kotozuka's work is held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the University of Alberta Art Collection; the National Museums of Modern Art in Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura, and Hyama; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Carnegie Museum of Art.