(3) Japanese original woodblock drawings, Possibly 18th/19th c., "Hanashita-e", ink and watercolor on onionskin style paper, includes large double oban size samurai with calligraphy and multiple artist seals, 18.5"h x 13"w; male figure or actor in colorful robe, 13.25"h x 9.75"w, and a seated samurai writing a letter, 11"h x 8"w

Provenance: The Collection of visual artist Lewis Stein, NYC; Samurai writing letter with COI from Asian Collection Japanese Print Auction, Virginia

Notes/Literature: Artist Lewis Stein (1945-2022) was an original SOHO pioneer working and collecting from his Broome Street loft over a five decade career. Inspired by artists like Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, he started taking common household objects, like cleavers and hammers, and painting them in bright garish colors. In the late 1960s, he met dealer Dick Bellamy, who introduced his work to the gallerists who gave him his first exposure, including David Whitney in New York, Nicholas Wilder in Los Angeles, and Rolf Ricke in Cologne. A practitioner of Zen Buddhism, Stein made his first of many trips to mainland China in 1975, where he discovered and made an aesthetic connection to traditional Chinese Arts. Over the decades Stein amassed a formidable collection of Asian artifacts and a reputation for scholarly connoisseurship.

Fair, double oban worn at center crease, actor with some holes and worn spots, insect damage top right, samurai writing with small holes in margins, some stains **Condition reports are rendered as specialist opinion by the staff of the Auction House and not as statements of fact. We do not guarantee the content of written or verbal condition reports. The absence of a condition report does not imply that there are no condition issues with the lot. Please call us at (973) 377-1500 or e-mail info@milleabros.com with any questions about this lot at least 24 hours prior to auction.