Artist: Obata Chiura
Title: Merced River, Yosemite Valley
Date: 1930
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Source:
Japanese Art Open Database
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Description:
Saturday, 29 August 2009 Artist: Chiura Obata Title: Merced River, Yosemite Valley Print Type: Original Japanese Woodblock Print Series Title: World Landscape Series Edition No: First and only Date: 1930 Publisher: Takamizawa Color-Print Studio, Tokyo Reference No: Obata's Yosemite, p. 139 Size: 15-3/4 x 11 " (image); 18 x 13 " (paper) Condition: Very fine. Notes: Obata comments, "Clad in a misty autumnal vapor, the high cliff at the entrance of Yosemite Valley looks sleepily down at the murmuring river that flows below, singing a cradle song." The headwaters of the 112 mile long Merced River are in Yosemite National Park. It was designated a National Wild and Scenic River in 1987. Begun in 1928 when Obata visited Japan, the World Landscape Series took 18 months to complete. The project required the work of 32 block carvers and 40 printers with each print requiring from 100 to as many as 160 impressions in order to accurately replicate Obata's original watercolors. The folio consisted of 35 colored woodblock prints. All but one show California scenes, and 27 are views of Yosemite and the High Sierra. It is believed that 100 folios were sent to the artist. Not all of the prints were signed and sealed. Each print has the publishers name stamped on the reverse. The folder illustration shows the publisher's watermark, visible below the title slip. PRINTS BY OBATA IN FINE CONDITION, EXHIBITING FRESH COLORS, AS WITH THESE, ARE VERY RARE. LIKE THE SET IN THE ACHENBACH/FINE ARTS MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO, THE PRINTS IN THIS GROUP, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF "FOGGY MORNING, VAN NESS AVENUE" ARE UNSIGNED.