Japanese Woodblock Print, 1930s, publisher unknown

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 15.5 x 10.25 inches

PROVENANCE: From the Robert O. Muller estate.

ROBERT O. MULLER'S love affair with Japanese prints began one day in the 1930s, when as a student in New York City he spotted several landscape prints by Kawase Hasui displayed in the window of the Shima Art Company, and shortly afterwards arranged to purchase a print. By late 1939 Mr. Miller arranged to purchase the Shima Art Co. and the following year, he went on a print shopping tour to Japan with his wife where he met the shin hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo and Watanabe’s stable of artists including: Kawase Hasui, Shiro Kasamatsu, and Ito Shinsui. He also met and befriended Hiroshi Yoshida.

After WWII, Muller continued to deal in Japanese prints, but he was also an avid collector with a keen eye for good art. Although the Muller Collection is best known for shin hanga, Mr. Muller also collected late nineteenth century prints and good reproductions of famous Edo masters.

When Mr. Muller passed away on April 10, 2003, he had left possibly the largest and finest collection of 20th century Japanese prints in the world, and the question of what would become of his collection was a major topic among Japanese print collectors. The finest 20th century prints from his collection were given as a gift to the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., and an exhibit was mounted. Other portions of the collection were sold at auction and still more remains with his heirs. Several books have been published about the collection.

VG, no flaws of note