Rare Kobayashi Toshimitsu triptych

sino japanese7This underwater battle scene appears to be quite rare among the Sino-Japanese war prints designed by the artist Kobayashi Toshimitsu (active 1877-1904). Information about the artist himself is also limited.

The Graphic Arts Collection holds two copies of Toshimitsu’s more popular print Our Army’s Great Victory at the Night Battle of Pyongyang (Heijô yasen wagahei daishôri) seen further below. They both have the artist’s seal: Suidô shujin, and each include graphic depictions of war.

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Kobayashi Toshimitsu (act. 1877-1904), Oryokko okino daikaisen (Great naval battle off the bank of the Yalu River), no date. Color woodblock triptych. Graphic Arts Collection. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

 

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Kobayashi Toshimitsu (active 1877-1904), Our Army’s Great Victory at the Night Battle of Pyongyang (Heijô yasen wagahei daishôri), Meiji era (September 1894). Color woodblock print. Graphic Arts Collection. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

 

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