NAKAJIMA JUTARO (active 1920s-30s), editor; Kitsutsuki (Woodpecker), nos. 1-3, (Tokyo: Sosaku Hanga Club, July 1930-June 1931), unbound folios, in original woodcut covers, 10 x 7.7/8in. (27.3 x 19.8cm.), each containing tipped-in woodcuts in color and black and white, contents lightly toned, covers torn and nicked, and inscribed in ink by a later hand in Roman letters with titles, center creases with tears, artist's names added in pencil in Roman script in a later hand, sold as a collection of plates, not subject to return

Details

NAKAJIMA JUTARO (active 1920s-30s), editor; Kitsutsuki (Woodpecker), nos. 1-3, (Tokyo: Sosaku Hanga Club, July 1930-June 1931), unbound folios, in original woodcut covers, 10 x 7.7/8in. (27.3 x 19.8cm.), each containing tipped-in woodcuts in color and black and white, contents lightly toned, covers torn and nicked, and inscribed in ink by a later hand in Roman letters with titles, center creases with tears, artist's names added in pencil in Roman script in a later hand, sold as a collection of plates, not subject to return

Contents: No. 1, 9 prints, (Maeda Masuo print is missing), Murayama Kanko (1901-1935), Azechi Umetaro (b. 1902), Yamaguchi Susumu (1897-1982), Kawanishi Hide (1894-1965), Okuyama Yasuo (active 1920s-30s), Inagaki Tomoo (1902-1980), Ishii Ryosuke (1898-?), Nomura Toshihiko (1904-1987), Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955)
No. 2, 10 prints, Okuyama Yasuo, Nozaki Saburo (active 1920s-30s), Yamaguchi Susumu, Matsuki Manji (1906-1961), Kodama Sadahei (1898-1941), Kakihara Toshio (1893-1960), Azechi Umetaro, Inagaki Tomoo, Suwa Kanenori (1897-1932), Shimizu Koichi (1895-1936)
No. 3, 10 prints, Tokuriki Tomikichiro (b. 1902), Maeda Toshiro (1904-1990), Munakata Shiko (1903-1975), Takeda Shintaro (1886-1957), Harumura Tadao (active 1930s), Kobayashi Kiyomitsu (active 1930s), Kodama Takamura (active 1930s), Okuyama Yasuo, Nakanishi Yoshio (1899-1965), Kawakami Sumio (1895-1972) (3)

Lot Essay

Only three issues of Kitsutsuki were published, each containing ten prints, and each with the cover design of a woodpecker by Hiratsuka Un'ichi. In the first issue, dated July 1930, the Sosaku Hanga Club announces its intentions to hold courses in printmaking, to sell printmaking implements, and to publish six annual issues along with special issues in spring and fall specifically for individual artists. The second issue, dated September 1930, is devoted to prints depicting the Ginza district of Tokyo and the third issue, dated June 1931, features still life prints. Woodcut designs by Fujimori Shizuo, Henmi Takashi, and Ishii Tsuruzo grace the table of contents page for issues 1, 2 and 3, respectively.