Gihachiro Okuyama - アンリ・ド・トゥールーズ・ロートレックの『髪を梳く女』 (Lautrec - "Woman Combing Her Hair") (1977)

Gihachiro Okuyama’s 1977 woodblock 「アンリ・ド・トゥールーズ・ロートレックの『髪を梳く女』」 (Lautrec - "Woman Combing Her Hair")  is a renewed carving of his 1957 piece and homage to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s original 1896 lithograph. In this later, smaller-format version, Okuyama revisited the design to capture the same intimate moment of a woman arranging her hair. This 1977 impression is smaller format, and its delicate line work and subtle colour gradations preserve the timeless elegance of Lautrec’s Post-Impressionist intimacy. 💇🌸🖌️

• Year & Edition: 1977 impression; signed & titled in pencil “Gihachiro Okuyama” and “ロートレック髪を梳く女” to plate.
• Medium: Woodblock.
• Dimensions: Sheet W: 14.00cm × H: 20.00cm. (Image W: 10.50cm × H: 14.50cm).
• Condition: Beautifully clean & crisp. Minor handling lower left corner/margin.
  
• Notes: Gihachiro Okuyama’s “Woman Combing Her Hair (髪を梳く女)” is a magnificent homage to French Post-Impressionist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. This rare woodblock print, based on Lautrec’s 1896 piece from his "Elles" lithography series - a portfolio focused on the lives of women in Parisian brothels - captures a moment of daily intimacy as a woman arranges her hair. Okuyama published a remarkable portfolio of woodblock prints in homage to original works by Post-Impressionists Vincent Van Gogh (フィンセント・ファン・ゴッホ), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (アンリ・ド・トゥールーズ・ロートレック), and Paul Cézanne (セザンヌ). Highly collectable, it truly is remarkable how Okuyama has meticulously captured the fine details, fluid brushstrokes & textures of these Post-Impressionist masters within the precise intricacy, registration, & colour block work of traditional Japanese woodblock printing.