Shinsui | Snowy Night, from the series of Twelve Images of Modern Beauties
伊東深水 Ito Shinsui（1898-1972）
新美人十二姿之内 雪夜
Snowy Night, from the series of Twelve Images of Modern Beauties
1923
木版画｜纵绘大大判｜43.3cm×26cm
Woodblock-print ｜Large Oban tate-e｜43.3cm×26cm
限定200枚的30枚；品相非常好
200 limited edition, number 30; mint condition
百年前，飘雪的夜，一位身着玄色和服的女子肩倚和伞走入画中。低垂的夜幕已然足够灰黑，她的出现，顿时让夜的昏暗也具备了微妙的结构感。利休鼠色的伞面似华盖将她包围，细密交错的几何形伞骨放射环绕，精巧如手绘的穹顶图纸。美人乌黑的盘发油亮，映衬着凝脂般的面容，眼眸若有所思，淡淡望向一侧。许是夜雪的寒气过于冷冽，平日里莞尔微笑的绛唇，此刻已用衣袖掩蔽。于举手投足间绽放的优雅灵魂，温暖地装点了整个冬夜。
本作刊印于1923年1月，是极为珍稀的关东大地震前作品；加之限量发行仅200张（本作编号35），珍贵程度不言而喻，是深水最罕有亦最高值的美人画作品之一。全画品相几近完美，摺痕清晰分明，纵然世纪变迁，愈发历久弥新。
Mysterious. Elegant. Both warm and cold at the same time. A woman with secrets. And one striking, enticing, even sexy, touch of red…
Of all of his wonderful prints of women, this design – “Snowy Night” from 1923 -- is considered Ito Shinsui’s masterpiece; indeed, in the realm of Shin Hanga prints of beautiful women – bijin – this is among the most famous and beloved.
Produced just two months before the Great Kanto earthquake, it shows a beauty in a light snow beneath a wonderfully drawn traditional umbrella. Shinsui apparently based his prints on real women, but we don’t know who she is. The scholar Lawrence Smith posits that she’s a noted Geisha. By hiding half her face, the artist only adds to the mystery. She is like a dream, passing like a wisp of blown snow in the freezing night.
While sometimes male artists create sensual allure by removing a woman’s clothing, in this case Shinsui has done the opposite – we are attracted to her because she’s so completely covered up. Sometimes less is more. She looks away. What is she thinking? She seems somehow vulnerable and powerful at the same time, with control of her destiny.
The printing and somber palette of this print is extraordinary. Look at the delicate web design on her scarf and the intricate circle-upon-circle skeleton of the umbrella. And the tiny glimpse of her red inner sleeve.
Shinsui started with landscapes – there is a legend that his work inspired the great Kawese Hasui to go in that direction. But in time Shinsui find his true métier – portraits of women. With this print we are forever thankful that he did.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
伊東深水 Ito Shinsui（1898-1972）
新美人十二姿之内 雪夜
Snowy Night, from the series of Twelve Images of Modern Beauties
1923
木版画｜纵绘大大判｜43.3cm×26cm
Woodblock-print ｜Large Oban tate-e｜43.3cm×26cm
限定200枚的30枚；品相非常好
200 limited edition, number 30; mint condition
百年前，飘雪的夜，一位身着玄色和服的女子肩倚和伞走入画中。低垂的夜幕已然足够灰黑，她的出现，顿时让夜的昏暗也具备了微妙的结构感。利休鼠色的伞面似华盖将她包围，细密交错的几何形伞骨放射环绕，精巧如手绘的穹顶图纸。美人乌黑的盘发油亮，映衬着凝脂般的面容，眼眸若有所思，淡淡望向一侧。许是夜雪的寒气过于冷冽，平日里莞尔微笑的绛唇，此刻已用衣袖掩蔽。于举手投足间绽放的优雅灵魂，温暖地装点了整个冬夜。
本作刊印于1923年1月，是极为珍稀的关东大地震前作品；加之限量发行仅200张（本作编号35），珍贵程度不言而喻，是深水最罕有亦最高值的美人画作品之一。全画品相几近完美，摺痕清晰分明，纵然世纪变迁，愈发历久弥新。
Mysterious. Elegant. Both warm and cold at the same time. A woman with secrets. And one striking, enticing, even sexy, touch of red…
Of all of his wonderful prints of women, this design – “Snowy Night” from 1923 -- is considered Ito Shinsui’s masterpiece; indeed, in the realm of Shin Hanga prints of beautiful women – bijin – this is among the most famous and beloved.
Produced just two months before the Great Kanto earthquake, it shows a beauty in a light snow beneath a wonderfully drawn traditional umbrella. Shinsui apparently based his prints on real women, but we don’t know who she is. The scholar Lawrence Smith posits that she’s a noted Geisha. By hiding half her face, the artist only adds to the mystery. She is like a dream, passing like a wisp of blown snow in the freezing night.
While sometimes male artists create sensual allure by removing a woman’s clothing, in this case Shinsui has done the opposite – we are attracted to her because she’s so completely covered up. Sometimes less is more. She looks away. What is she thinking? She seems somehow vulnerable and powerful at the same time, with control of her destiny.
The printing and somber palette of this print is extraordinary. Look at the delicate web design on her scarf and the intricate circle-upon-circle skeleton of the umbrella. And the tiny glimpse of her red inner sleeve.
Shinsui started with landscapes – there is a legend that his work inspired the great Kawese Hasui to go in that direction. But in time Shinsui find his true métier – portraits of women. With this print we are forever thankful that he did.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
伊東深水 Ito Shinsui（1898-1972）
新美人十二姿之内 雪夜
Snowy Night, from the series of Twelve Images of Modern Beauties
1923
木版画｜纵绘大大判｜43.3cm×26cm
Woodblock-print ｜Large Oban tate-e｜43.3cm×26cm
限定200枚的30枚；品相非常好
200 limited edition, number 30; mint condition
百年前，飘雪的夜，一位身着玄色和服的女子肩倚和伞走入画中。低垂的夜幕已然足够灰黑，她的出现，顿时让夜的昏暗也具备了微妙的结构感。利休鼠色的伞面似华盖将她包围，细密交错的几何形伞骨放射环绕，精巧如手绘的穹顶图纸。美人乌黑的盘发油亮，映衬着凝脂般的面容，眼眸若有所思，淡淡望向一侧。许是夜雪的寒气过于冷冽，平日里莞尔微笑的绛唇，此刻已用衣袖掩蔽。于举手投足间绽放的优雅灵魂，温暖地装点了整个冬夜。
本作刊印于1923年1月，是极为珍稀的关东大地震前作品；加之限量发行仅200张（本作编号35），珍贵程度不言而喻，是深水最罕有亦最高值的美人画作品之一。全画品相几近完美，摺痕清晰分明，纵然世纪变迁，愈发历久弥新。
Mysterious. Elegant. Both warm and cold at the same time. A woman with secrets. And one striking, enticing, even sexy, touch of red…
Of all of his wonderful prints of women, this design – “Snowy Night” from 1923 -- is considered Ito Shinsui’s masterpiece; indeed, in the realm of Shin Hanga prints of beautiful women – bijin – this is among the most famous and beloved.
Produced just two months before the Great Kanto earthquake, it shows a beauty in a light snow beneath a wonderfully drawn traditional umbrella. Shinsui apparently based his prints on real women, but we don’t know who she is. The scholar Lawrence Smith posits that she’s a noted Geisha. By hiding half her face, the artist only adds to the mystery. She is like a dream, passing like a wisp of blown snow in the freezing night.
While sometimes male artists create sensual allure by removing a woman’s clothing, in this case Shinsui has done the opposite – we are attracted to her because she’s so completely covered up. Sometimes less is more. She looks away. What is she thinking? She seems somehow vulnerable and powerful at the same time, with control of her destiny.
The printing and somber palette of this print is extraordinary. Look at the delicate web design on her scarf and the intricate circle-upon-circle skeleton of the umbrella. And the tiny glimpse of her red inner sleeve.
Shinsui started with landscapes – there is a legend that his work inspired the great Kawese Hasui to go in that direction. But in time Shinsui find his true métier – portraits of women. With this print we are forever thankful that he did.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Ito Shinsui (1898-1972）
Ito Shinsui is best known for his Shin Hanga portraits, often three-quarters, of beautiful women. But he produced several memorable, and memorably tonal, landscapes during his career.
Born in 1898 in a fast-modernizing Japan, he started work as a factory worker before his obvious talent got him promoted to the design department. Later, his paintings caught the eye of Watanabe Shozaburo, who added him to his roster of Shin Hanga stars. From this point on, beautiful women were almost Shinsui’s entire repetoire, although during World War II he did travel to Indonesia to produce designs depicting life there. His remarkable life spanned a tumultuous time indeed, and he died in 1972.