Imao Keinen

Four books of woodblock prints by Japanese painter and print designer Imao Keinen. Part of the shin-hanga movement, he became a member of the Art Committee of the Imperial Household in 1904 and the Imperial Art Academy in 1919. Keinen’s most famous work, Keinen Kacho Gafu, is a stunning four-part work of woodblock prints of birds and flowers in the four seasons.

• A four-volume set comprising birds and flowers grouped by season, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer.
• The birds are naturalistically presented in their native habitat, featuring beautiful Japanese plants and flowers and printed on full oban.
• The series was published by Nishimura Soemon in four volumes of forty prints each, with the blocks carved by Tanaka Hirokichi and printed by Miki Jinzaburo.