Woodblock Printed Advertisement for Matsumoto Print Works with original woodblock print
[Japan] Folded flyer on Japanese paper promoting the the Matsumoto Print Works based in Nagoya. According to the flyer, Matsumoto Sogo (1877-1945), the founder, travelled to Paris in 1900 for the World's Fair held there and met US artist, James McNeill Whistler, who encouraged him to respect the traditional arts of Japan. Matsumoto received his Masters of Arts from Yale in 1901, and by 1906 was living in New York City. On his return to Japan sometime after 1906, he was disappointed to find that lithography was driving Japanese woodblock print artists out of business so he founded The Matsumoto Print Works, a mail-order business in Nagoya that published and sold woodblock prints. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, however, appears to have ended his relatively short-lived woodblock print business. Matsumoto studied at Doshisha in Kyoto and Keio University before studying in the US. He was also a businessman and, later, a politician in Mie prefecture.
Single leaf folded twice. 20.5 x 16.5cm (folded).
In very good condition. Minor age wear and creasing only. e36051696
