Asada Benji (麻田辨自) (artist 1899 – 1984)
Pipes and Cigarettes
ca 1935
10.25 in x 15 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Ben [in ink] Asada [in pencil]
Limited edition below the image on the right:
45部の内第10部 (mostly unreadable without magnification)
We have added two images of prints by Kawakami Sumio of pipes dating from 1927. We had done this because the similarities between these prints appears too strong to be a coincidence. If our assumption is correct then Sumio influenced the production of this print by Benji Asada, if only at a distance.
****
The signature, Ben [in ink] Asada [in pencil], appears on other prints by this artist. A self-printed composition from 1935 uses the same format. However, in his print Kyoto Kiyomizu-dera Ugo no Tsuki (Moon over Kiyomizu-dera) from the 1930 his signature is in the traditional form using kanji characters vertically followed by the artist's seal. A 'Ben' stand-alone signature was used in a magazine illustration. Sometimes he even used an embossed signature with no ink or pencil. Clearly he experimented a lot.
In the lower right, outside of the image, is an almost unreadable embossed area with the number 10 in graphite. It reads: 45部の内第10部, i.e., 'limited edition, number 10/45.'
modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
still life (seibutsu-ga - 静物画) (genre)