Asano Takeji: Night Scene of Kitano Shrine

Colour woodblock print, c. 24.5 × 36,5 cm, published by Unsodo, 1952, first edition. Print in good condition, slight fold on the upper part of the print.

​

Asano Takeji (1900-1999) was born in Kyoto. He graduated from the Kyoto City School of Fine Arts and Crafts in 1919 and the Kyoto Municipal College of Painting in 1923.  He first learned Western oil painting and then turned to Japanese-style painting under Bakusen Tsuchida (1887-1936).  In 1928, he became interested in woodblock printing through a course offered at Gasendo in Kyoto, by Hiratsuka Un'ichi (1895-1997), one of the founders of the sōsaku hanga movement.  He was active in the formation of the Kyoto Sosaku-Hangakai (Kyoto Creative Print Society) in 1929 along with Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000), Asada Benji (1899-1984), Kawai Unosuke (1889-1968) and others.