Eiichi Kotozuka

Eiichi Kotozuka (琴塚 英一, Kotozuka Eiichi, 1906 – 1 October 1981) was a 20th-century Japanese commercial artist and woodblock printmaker. He was a prolific artist of the sōsaku-hanga style. He was one of four artists who co-founded the print publishing company Koryokusha. He was noted for his prints of Japanese cultural traditions, flowers, landscapes, and wildlife.

Biography

Kotozuka was born in Osaka in 1906. He was a member of the Seiryusha Group of Liberal Artists.

Artistic style

Kotozuka was an adherent of the sosaku hanga style of illustration, which emphasized a print process with greater direct artist involvement, resulting in a somewhat more crude illustration, but one with stronger emotional impact. Prior to sosaku hanga, an artist would create an illustration which would be passed to a team of engravers, printers, and publishers who would each control the production of the final print. In sosaku hanga, the artist was directly involved with each step.

Bibliography

• 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.
• J. P. Filedt Kok and Jan Frederik Heijbroek, "The Age of Yoshitoshi: Japanese Prints from the Meiji and Taishō Periods : Nagasaki, Yokohama and Kamigata Prints", published by Rijksprentenkabinet/Rijksmuseum