Sailboats by Moolight Arai Yoshimune Antique Japanese Woodblock Print Shin Hanga

Description

An original woodblock print by Japanese artist Arai
Yoshimune. Hand signed on the mat in pencil "Arai Yoshimune" in the lower right corner and titled "Sailboats by Moonlight" in the lower left corner. The woodblock print depicts two sailboats floating in a moonlit bay with islands in the background. Likely the Kominato Bay. The red artist's seal can be seen in the lower righthand corner of the image. This is an ultra rare example of the famous print as it is hand signed and titled by the artist himself. Framed in a solid bamboo frame and matted under glass, overall dimensions approximately 16.1" x 12.1". Size of visible image is approximately 9.2" x 6.6". Print is in great condition. Some yellowing to mat and wear to frame. Not inspected out of frame. Please review all images.
Arai Yoshimune was a Japanese artist associated with the shin-hanga ("New Prints") art movement in Japan during the early 20th century. This movement was influenced by European Impressionism and its imagery focused on landscapes, women, and nature. In the 1920s, the publisher Hasegawa commissioned a small group of artists to create woodblock prints for a series entitled "Hasegawa's Night Scenes", of which there were a total of 21 prints by 6 artists.
Utagawa Yoshimune II (1863-1941) was the eleventh and youngest son of Utagawa Yoshimune I (1817-1880) and spent his childhood residence in the Kinroku-chō area of Tokyo. At a young age he studied with the famous ukiyo-e artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) and he assumed the name Toshiyuki at age thirteen. After his father’s death he was adopted by the Arai family. He succeeded his father in 1882 to become Yoshimune II and occasionally used his father’s art name Isshōsai, along with the adopted name Arai Yoshimune. Worked as illustrator and print designer. Also known as Arai Toshiyuki.