Tsuchiya Koitsu Giclée Repro Print Nezu Shrine Tokyo Night Snow 1934 Framed 16x20

Tsuchiya Koitsu (土屋光逸, 1870–1949) — Nezu Jinja (根津神社 — Nezu Shrine) — archival giclée reproduction

Contemporary reproduction after original woodblock print, December 1934 (Shōwa 9); publisher Doi Hangaten

This giclees is ready-to-hang, matted with custom-cut matting and framed in a simple black wood frame with glass, overall 16" W × 20" H. This reproduction is locally and professionally printed on acid-free archival fine-art paper using highly fade-resistant pigmented inks. 

Snow falls through a deep winter night at Nezu Shrine in Tokyo. A woman — likely a geisha, judging by her dress and bearing — crosses the snow-covered precinct under a red-and-white umbrella, her footprints trailing behind her toward the viewer. To her left, a large stone lantern catches a warm yellow glow from somewhere beyond the frame; to the right, snow-laden pines and a bare tree are suffused with the same low, diffuse light that pools across the ground. The great vermilion gate structure rises at upper left, its green copper roof dusted white. Further in the distance, a second figure with an umbrella moves toward an inner hall, its shoji screens glowing amber. The whole scene is rendered in a palette of deep indigo, grey, and muted warm tones — Koitsu's signature night-snow atmosphere, where artificial light defines the scene as surely as darkness conceals it.

Tsuchiya Koitsu (土屋光逸, 1870–1949) was born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and moved to Tokyo as a teenager to pursue artistic training. At age fifteen he became an apprentice to the renowned ukiyo-e master Kobayashi Kiyochika, living with him and studying under his guidance for nearly two decades. This long apprenticeship deeply shaped Koitsu's mastery of woodblock design, particularly his distinctive use of light and shadow to evoke mood and atmosphere. His international reputation grew most strongly after a pivotal meeting in 1931 with publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, leader of the shin hanga movement; he also produced important designs for Doi Hangaten, including this celebrated Nezu Shrine composition. Nezu Jinja, one of Tokyo's oldest surviving shrines, dates in its present form to 1706 and is associated with Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. This design — Koitsu's finest snow-scene subject and among the most sought-after prints in his oeuvre — was first published in December 1934.

• Title: 根津神社 (Nezu Jinja — Nezu Shrine)
• Artist: Tsuchiya Koitsu (土屋光逸, 1870–1949)
• Original date: December 1934 (Shōwa 9); publisher Doi Hangaten; carver Harada; printer Yokoi
• Medium: Archival giclee reproduction on acid-free fine-art paper, pigmented inks
• Dimensions: 10" W × 15" H (25 × 38 cm)

Condition: New Giclée print on #120 textured matte paper