Edutainment > Tsuchiya Koitsu - 1879-1949

Tsuchiya Koits I
Returning Sailboat

Japanese Prints - Home
Yabashi at Lake Biwa
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Tsuchiya Koitsu is a well-known artist of the Shin Hanga movement, but not among the trendy names like Hasui, Ito Shinsui or Natori Shunsen. Tsuchiya Koitsu specialized in landscape images. His beautiful prints are of excellent quality and a good buy for collectors of Japanese twentieth century prints.

Tsuchiya Koitsu - Student of Kiyochika

Tsuchiya Koitsu was born in rural Japan with the given name Koichi. He became a student of the ukiyo-e master Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847-1915) after starting an apprenticeship for a woodblock carver who worked for Kiyochika. Soon the ukiyo-e master Kiyochika himself took care of the young Koitsu. Tsuchiya Koitsu stayed and worked for 19 years in the home of his master.

Tsuchiya Koitsu - Beautiful Landscape Prints

Tsuchiya Koitsu II

Kiyochika Kobayashi - Biography
Mount Fuji
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The first print designs by Tsuchiya were war prints depicting scenes of the Sino Japanese war (1894-1895).

From 1931 on, Tsuchiya Koitsu became one of the artists working for the publisher Watanabe in shin hanga style. Koitsu specialized in landscape prints. His style reminds of the works of his master Kobayashi and of the famous shin hanga artists Kawase Hasui and Hiroshi Yoshida. In typical shin hanga style Tsuchiya Koitsu intensively used the effects of light to create moods and emotions in his images.

Other publishers for whom Tsuchiya Koitsu worked, are Doi and Kawaguchi. During the 1930s and 1940s, Koitsu was quite productive in shin hanga landscape designs. His prints have been a bit neglected on the art market, but have gained in appreciation and price during the last years. Koitsu prints are solid works, beautiful and by no means mediocre. This makes this artist interesting for novice collectors and those who have an open eye for discoveries.

Update on Tsuchiya Koitsu Prints (June 2009)

Tsuchiya Koitsu III

Hiroshi Yoshida - Biography
Tea Shop
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Since the first publication of this article in 2002, woodblock prints by Tsuchiya Koitsu have become quite expensive. Some of his works fetched more than $1,000 in our online auctions. These prices have been achieved for impressions pulled at life time of the artist. Posthumous impressions are available for very reasonable prices. These are not inferior in printing quality. But collectors pay more for earlier impressions.

Which impressions should you buy? Buy the cheaper posthumous impressions if you want to decorate your wall. If you are a collector, go for impressions pulled at lifetime of the artist. And preserve them well. Don't frame them and do not expose them to light. More to be found in our article about the care of art prints.

Dieter Wanczura
(May 2002, updated June 2009)

Tsuchiya Koitsu on the Internet

Tsuchiya Koitsu - His Complete Works, by Dr. Ross F. Walker - external link

Literature sources used for this Tsuchiya Koitsu biography

Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, "Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0-8248-1732-X.

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