Featured Need Help Identifying Two Japanese Prints

I had done extensive looking online and cannot find anything that looks like either of them. They have a more modern style and the hair is different from most other portraits of Asian women. I assume that, like most of the other art and literature that I purchased from this estate that it was created no later than the 1930s.

This one I refer to as “Woman in Red”. I will post images of the second one in my REPLIES. I am posting an image of the back as well as the chop and a close-up of the publisher stamp.

Size (Both Prints): 9.5" h x 10.75" w (I purchased as is with no matting/framing)

Medium: print (woodblock?) on lightweight, illustration board.

I don’t know the artist. On verso, there is a small mark, “SOGA BROS JAPAN”. I am assuming that was the publisher or gallery. I can find no mention of either.

I bought a lot of art and printed materials at that estate sale in North Florida last year (APR 2021). The work belonged to a Japanese woman who once lived in Chicago early in the last century. She had ties to the Art Institute of Chicago and owned a lot of photography and smaller artwork in her collection.

Any help identifying the artist would be appreciated. Thanks for looking.

 

This is the second one.

 

Here is a mention of the Soga Bros as a Kabuki tale. As with all the internet postings, this could be completely apocryphal. I am just researcher, not a person of knowledge.

ANTIQUE JAPANESE WOODBLOCK Prints Kabuki Theater Scenes Tales of the Soga Bros $100.00 - PicClick

Perhaps, these are portraits of actors.

 

Thank you, KikoBlueEyes. I am pretty sure that SOGA BROS is the name of the Gallery or publishing house and is an homage to the Kabuki tale that you reference.

 

Personally, knowing nothing about them, I think your two prints are LOVELY!!! But on looking up the SOGA-BROS-JAPAN!!! Even if just legend, what a confusing, looong, brutal and vicious bunch!!!!! Just plain....WOW!!! And could not figure what the inner circle of that 'logo' represents if not a mountainous scene......

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These look more like paintings, likely gouache or something similar, rather than woodblock prints. And the dress and style of the ladies look more Chinese than Japanese.

The technique of Asian woodblock prints uses a soft paper that is laid on the carved and inked block, and then is rubbed on the back with a baren to transfer the ink. It would not work with an art board such as this.

Some closeups would be helpful, but the character of the medium (some texture and opacity) looks more like gouache than the inks used in prints.

The style looks very Art Deco/Chinese. Traditional Japanese women wear kimonos, while Chinese wear such high collar, close fitting jackets. The bobbed hair is also not typical of Japanese.

As for the Japanese-made art board, it could have been imported for use by a Chinese artist, working in a style somewhat similar to the Japanese tradition of "bijin-ga" - portraits of beautiful women. Perhaps these were made to appeal to Japanese tourists, or during the Japanese occupation of China (1937-1945).

 

Here is a nice link discussing and showing some 20th century Japanese bijin prints, where you can see the difference in style:
https://www.artelino.com/articles/bijin_prints_shin_hanga.asp

 

I'll take a closer look at the publisher/gallery mark, Aquitaine. Perhaps there is more to it. And, yes, the Soga Bros were quite the pair.

 

Thank you, 2manybooks. I have attached a couple of close-ups. The floral on the fan and the unsteady hand do point to a gouache/watercolor painting.



I understand that the hair and clothing are not typical of the Japanese but the woman who owned them was Japanese and seemed to have a lot of Japanese art and books. I had not thought about the occupation. Her age would coincide with the timeframe. That could explain a lot. The hair is certainly more modern in style and the Mandarin collars on the woman in red would appear to be Chinese.

I wonder if they could have been done by a student or visiting artist from the Art Institute in Chicago. I have identified a number of other pieces that I purchased from the same estate as having ties.

I think my best chance at further identification is to focus on the signature and chop.

Thanks again for the wealth of information! You have given me much to digest and have solved at least one mystery of these pieces of art.