Vintage Japanese Kappazuri Stencil Print Yoshitoshi Mori Kabuki Figure 1984 Edition 86 of 90

Yoshitoshi Mori (森義利, 1898–1992) — Kabuki figure with janome umbrella — kappazuri stencil print, 1984, edition 86/90

Shōwa period, dated 1984

A swaggering kabuki figure strides forward in full mie — weight low, one arm raised to tilt a large janome (snake-eye) umbrella against the picture plane. He wears a formal black haori over layered robes in black, russet, and cream, the haori decorated with paulownia mon in white; a katana rides at his hip. The face is set in the bold, masklike expression of aragoto (rough-style) performance. The composition reads as much as textile design as figure study — flat planes of color, strong outlines, no ground or background — reflecting Mori's deep roots in kimono dyeing and stencil craft. Signed in pencil lower left Y. Mori '84 with red artist's seal; numbered 86/90 lower right. Presented in a black wood frame with double mat and glass.

Yoshitoshi Mori (森義利, 1898–1992) was born in Tokyo and trained at the Kawabata School of Fine Arts before spending the early decades of his career as a textile designer and kimono fabric dyer. He did not turn to printmaking until nearly sixty, but went on to produce an enormous body of kappazuri (stencil-print) work that earned him an international reputation. Kappazuri substitutes hand-cut stencils for carved woodblocks, applying each color through a separate stencil — a technique rooted in traditional katazome textile dyeing. Mori's prints draw almost exclusively on traditional subjects — kabuki actors, courtesans, craftsmen, folk festival figures — rendered in his distinctive flat, bold, expressively distorted style. His work is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In 1984 — the year this print was made — he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland. He continued exhibiting until shortly before his death in Tokyo in 1992.

• Title: Kabuki Figure with Janome Umbrella (Benton Kozu)
• Artist: Yoshitoshi Mori (森義利, 1898–1992)
• Medium: Kappazuri stencil print on wove paper
• Date: 1984 (Shōwa 59)
• Edition: 86/90
• Dimensions (image): approx. 17.5" W × 11.75" H (44 × 30 cm); framed approx. 24" H × 20" W
• Condition: Please see photos for details.