Japan – Two young geishas in flower garden, studio photograph
Yokohama, Japan: c 1890. Hand-tinted albumen print, 10 1/2 x 8 inches (266 x 203 mm), numbered B334 in negative, right side of image printed somewhat lighter than left, tiny in-negative spots, but colors bright and print sharp; pencil inscription on verso. Unmounted; housed in an archival mat with clear mounting corners.
[Nagasaki University Library, Catalog Number : 1850].
Two women sitting among the peonies. A studio photograph with painted background that creates the relaxed and bountiful atmosphere of the Japanese garden. It is a theme that Ogawa Kazumasa is especially good at.
Ogawa Katsumasa (1860 – 1936) was a pivotal figure in early Japanese photography. He adapted cutting-edge Western technology in photo-printing processes to produce numerous half-tone and collotype publications which transformed a market previously concentrated on the more expensive souvenir albums. Ogawa's publications were also instrumental in introducing Japanese art and culture to a mass international audience. He built one of the most successful photographic businesses in late-Meiji Japan. He opened his first portrait studio in Tomioka, Gumma Prefecture, in 1877. [Bennett, Terry. Old Japanese Photographs: Collectors' Data Guide. London: Quaritch, 2006. p. 288].
Condition: Near fine.
Item number: 1914
Price: $450.00
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