Gihachiro Okuyama’s 1960 woodblock 「フィンセント・ファン・ゴッホの『古い街角』」 (Vincent van Gogh - “Old Street Corner”) is a homage to Van Gogh’s 1882 drawing "Old Street (The Paddemoes)". Van Gogh sketched this cramped Jewish quarter near the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague during a midnight walk with George Hendrik Breitner. Van Gogh later refined the scene in pen and ink; its tight row houses, bare poplars, and solitary figures impressed his dealer uncle enough to commission a dozen similar studies. Leafless trees stand in stark silhouette, rain-glossed cobbles and soot-dark brick recede into shadow, and three figures - a veiled woman, a mother with child, and a lone passer-by - quietly animate the dark street. 🌙🏙️
- Year & Edition: 1960 · In pencil to margin/plate: Self-printed (奥山儀八郎自摺 )(Okuyama Gihachiro jizuri). Titled: (ゴッホ 古い街角)(Gogh Old Street Corner). Dated: Likely reads: 昭和三十五年六月十九日 (Shōwa 35 (1960), June 19th).
- Medium: Woodblock.
- Dimensions: Sheet H: 41.25 cm × W: 52.50 cm. Image: H: 37.5 cm x W: 48.50 cm.
- Condition: A large incredible piece. Clean, image sharp & unblemished. Age related handling to margin. Complete with original storage/archival sleeve.
- Notes: Van Gogh described sketching the Paddemoes at night in several 1882 letters to his brother Theo (e.g., Letters 251-253). This magnificent piece 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.
%20is%20a%20homage%20to%20Van%20Gogh%E2%80%99s%201882%20drawing%20%22Old%20Street%20(...){kind=link}