CHARLES W. BARTLETT (1860-1940)
Surf Riders, Honolulu, circa 1921
An ōban yoko-e print entitled Surf Riders, Honolulu, sealed CWB and signed in red pencil in the lower margin Charles W. Bartlett, published by Watanabe Shōtarō
11 x 15 5/8in (27.9 x 39.6cm)
Footnotes:
Charles Bartlett was born in the South of England. After showing an aptitude for drawing and design, his studies took him to the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He later spent time in Paris, Brittany, and the Netherlands where he developed a reputation as an excellent watercolorist.

In 1913, Bartlett and his second wife Kate set off on an extended tour of Asia. By 1915 he had met and developed a working relationship with publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō. Until this time Watanabe had been publishing reproductions of classic ukiyo-e works by past masters but wanted to create new, original designs to meet emerging demands and changing market tastes. Watanabe encouraged Bartlett to explore traditional Japanese painting and printing techniques. The resulting collaboration yielded numerous original landscape designs.
Bartlett left Japan in 1917 to return to England, but on a short stopover in Hawaii, Bartlett fell in love with the island paradise and made it his home until his death at the age of 79. While in Hawaii, Bartlett continued his association with Watanabe and together the pair produced many successful designs. The prints he produced over the next decades were often Hawaiian subjects, namely surfers, fishermen, and island landscapes.