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GOYO, Hashiguchi (1880 - 1921)		KAO WO ARAU ONNA 'Woman washing her face'
		Signed:                     Goyo ga Sealed:                     Goyo Publisher:               Yasuo Hashiguchi Dated:                      7th month of Taisho 9 (July 1920) Size:                         c.  55 x 40 cms Condition: Excellent impression, colors and condition. Striking silver mica background.

Goyo was the pre-eminent woodblock print artist of the shin hanga movement of the early twentieth century depicting beautiful women (bijin). His influence on Shinsui and Kotondo cannot be overestimated. His portraits of women belong to the most acclaimed modern Japanese print works in this genre. Due to his untimely death at the age of 40 his total oeuvre is rather small. Many of his designs - like the one presented here - were left unpublished, unitl many years later the Goyo Printing Institute, in 1952, under the direction of Goyo's nephew, Hashiguchi Yasuo, printed a limited number of them in small editions. The present design shows Goyo's oustanding compositional talent. The vertical elements of the curtain at right which partly cover the woman's body lead the eye to the woman's head at top left, and from there down to the washing tub where a bowl is filled with water. The diagonals of the washing tub, masterly placed at the lower left, complete the circular tour of the spectator's eye over the print. The few soft colors applied contrast harmoniously with the large silver mica background.

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