Japanese Woodblock Print, 1924, 1st edition (with artist’s signature in red pencil),

SIZE IN INCHES: 11 x 15.5 inches

COMENTS:

Elizabeth Keith first traveled to Tokyo when she was 28 and remained there for 8 years. While in Japan, she produced paintings and watercolors of her travels in Asia. Exhibiting her work to much acclaim, Keith quickly garnered the eye of Watanabe Shozaburo, the Shin Hanga publisher, who hired the artist to produce designs for his woodblock print studio. “Bridge, Soochow” is among Keith’s finest prints produced by Watanabe.

Soochow, now known as Suzhou, was the setting for a number of Elizabeth Keith’s finest designs. Soochow, known as "earthly paradise," is a garden city on the Grand Canal in Jiangsu Province, and was a treaty port and center of the silk trade during the time Keith would have visited. The detail in Keith's print accurately depicts the streets and waterways crossing each other, as they do in Suzhou.

"Bridge, Soochow" is known in two states, one with the rain block with heavy diagonal lines, as is the case of this impression, and another lacking this block. Of the two states, the one with the rain block is the more expressive and desirable design demonstrating an impressionistic like quality. This impression comes from a private collection that dates directly back to Watanabe. While in the care of its original collector, the print was never framed nor exposed to light for prolonged periods. The print is in a pristine state of preservation and appears as fresh and vibrant as the day it was printed. Note the strength of the red crayon in Keith's signature—this color, along with the fugitive yellow pigment throughout the design are often the first colors to fade.

VG, flaws as shown