Shin Hanga prints
| Design: | Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960) | |||||
| Title: | Beauté Japonaise moderne. Kobé. | |||||
| Size: | 39.3 x 30.2 cm (dai ōban) | |||||
| Original woodblock print | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Special effects: bokashi (i.e., colour gradation) on coat and pillows; subtle grain impression of all colour woodblocks except for those applied to the woman’s face and chest.
Published: 2 September 1935.
Watermark with ‘PJ’ in romaji and ‘若礼’ (i.e., Jakurei) in kanji in left margin.
Paul Jacoulet signature in black pencil and red Mandarin Duck seal in bottom right of the print.
Name of the carver in lower left margin:
| Character | Translation |
| 前 | |
| 田 | Maeda |
| 謙 | |
| 太 | |
| 郎 | Kentarō |
| 刀 | Carver |
Print title in right bottom margin: Beauté Japonaise moderne. Kobé
Red seal with total number of editions published and edition number on verso of the print:
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in which the kanji read:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 百 | hyaku | hundred | |
| 五 | go | five | |
| 拾 | jū | ten | |
| 放 | hō | release | 150 editions |
| 絶 | zetsu | discontinue | |
| 版 | han | printing | now out of print |
| 第 | dai | ordinal number prefix | |
| 三 | san | three | |
| 十 | jū | ten | |
| 七 | shichi | seven | |
| 號 | gō | number | number 37 |
On this print Richard Miles (1982) comments: ‘Not until Le Banni in 1957 did Jacoulet again use the pale colours that suggest uncertainty and vulnerability to this extent. The vivid lips resulted from experiments with colors pressed from berries and flowers. More than most Jacoulets, this rare print is vulnerable to ultra-violet light. Although this Beauté was not popular in her day, she is now among the half-dozen most appreciated works. The stripes on the pillows should be the rosiest of orange, and were laid on by hand.’
References
- Miles, Richard (1982). The prints of Paul Jacoulet. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum.
- Polak, Christian, et Sawatari, Kiyoko (2013). Un artiste voyageur en Micronésie. L’univers flottant de Paul Jacoulet. Musée du quai Branly, Paris: Somogy éditions d’art.
- The rainbow artist Paul Jacoulet (2003). Yokohama: The Yokohama Museum of Art.
Provenance: An auction held in April 2013 by the Floating World gallery