Gihachiro Okuyama - ロートレックの『ディヴァン・ジャポネ』(Toulouse-Lautrec - “Divan Japonais”) (1977)

Gihachiro Okuyama’s woodblock「ロートレックの『ディヴァン・ジャポネ』」 (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - “Divan Japonais”) is a newly recarved, small-format edition of his 1956 homage to Lautrec’s 1893 café-concert poster. Lautrec’s original lithograph shows the flame-haired dancer Jane Avril cloaked in black beside critic Édouard Dujardin, while singer Yvette Guilbert appears only as a pair of gloved arms onstage. In Okuyama’s 1977 version Avril’s vermilion hair blazes against her inky coat, curling orchestra instruments frame the scene.🎨💃🎩

• Year & Edition: 1977; signed and titled in pencil “ロートレック ディヴァン・ジャポネ (Lautrec Divan Japonais)” and “Gihachiro Okuyama.”
• Medium: Woodblock.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 20.00 cm × W: 14.00 cm. Image H: 13.75 cm × W: 10.25 cm.
• Condition: Beautiful. Image unblemished, strong colours. Paper crisp & intact. Minor paper abrasion upper left edge previous mounting.
• Notes: Gihachiro Okuyama first translated Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s (アンリ・ド・トゥールーズ・ロートレック) woodblock in 1956 before recarved this design in 1977, preserving the original’s bold Post-Impressionist energy while showcasing his own mastery of Japanese carving and colour registration. This print is part of Okuyama’s series of tributes to van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cézanne, celebrating the blend of Western modernism and traditional Japanese printmaking. The result is a series of highly collectible works; pieces of a portfolio testament to Okuyama's mastery at capturing the fine details, fluid brushstrokes, and textures of these masters within the precise intricacy, registration, and colour block work of traditional Japanese woodblock printing.