Ishikawa, Toraji (1875 - 1964), "Dance"

Notes: Signed: "Ishikawa". Artist's red seal. Printed on paper, watermarked: "Ishikawa Toraji. Self-published by the artist. Carved by Yamagishi Kazue.

This series of nudes was controversial and it was reported that "some of the prints and at least two of the woodblocks were destroyed by the authorities." As a result, the Japanese government banned the series as part of a campaign for the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement (Kokumin Seishin sodoin Undo).

'Ichikawa Toraji presents the viewer with a clear example of French influence on twentieth-century, ukiyo-e inspired printmaking. Toraji, who studied in Paris in the 1910s, is best known for his series of 10 large dai-oban prints of nudes in strong colors'. - Ukiyo-e to Shin hanga; pg. 220

THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER IMAGE FROM THE SERIES. RARE IN THIS CONDITION.