About This Print

This print is one of 39 in the artist's long running (1960-1986) Kyoto series of prints in which the artist has assigned sequential numbers (with some numbers skipped and some numbers suffixed, e.g. Series Kyoto No. 21B.)  In addition to this numbered series, the artist has produced 24 other prints with Kyoto in their title such as Kyoto's Voice and three additional prints mentioning the "capital" or the "old city". 

The Kyoto Prints

Kyoto has been the predominant theme of Takahashi's work.  Kyoto, either named or referenced in the print title, appears in a total of sixty-three of the artists prints, spanning almost his entire career.

Source: 44 Modern Japanese Print Artists, Gaston Petit, Kodansha International Ltd., 1973, p. 148-149.
"Kyoto, former capital of Japan, is the focus of Takahashi's artistic inspiration, a city to which this artist remains profoundly attached.... Despite its size, it has an intimacy, an accessible charm to which Takahashi has yielded completely."

In discussing the series Petit goes on to say:

"[Takahashi] is in complete control of his vocabulary, but there seems to be no evolution in terms of his entire pattern or color, just as Kyoto itself is now historically quiescent.  The surface is motionless, and one can only hope to penetrate deeper into the surrounding mystery.  Though the elements of Takahashi's prints seem to float in an untamed cosmos, or are simply reduced to a square or an oblong in perfect equilibrium, they fall unmistakably into place, arranged as precisely as the utensils for a formal tea ceremony.  The space is so ideally formulated that no furnishings are necessary; its architecture eliminates everything but that which is aesthetically and structurally indispensable.  The space itself is a product of light and shadow displayed in an 'unbalanced' tension.  The search for such 'unbalanced' forms has almost become an obsession, but it is nevertheless a positive aesthetic expression."

Catalogue Raisonné Entry

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#224
Title	Kyoto Series No. 52 Garden (N)  京都シリーズ NO. 52 庭 N
Series	Kyoto
Catalogue Raisonné	Number 327
Artist	Takahashi Rikio (1917-1998)
Signature	Pencil signed by artist - Rikio Takahashi in English
Seal	none
Date	1976
Edition	7 of 35
Publisher	self-published
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	excellent - print backed with translucent Japanese “rice” paper with edges ½ inch longer than the print edge; two minute spots on the right margin, bottom; minor mat burn overall; upper section of reverse very slightly toned (perhaps only the backing paper/not visible to the front.)
Genre	sosaku hanga (creative print)
Miscellaneous
Format
H x W Paper	36 1/2 x 24 7/8 in. (92.7 x 63.2 cm)
H x W Image	33 5/8 x 22 3/8 in. (85.4 x 56.8 cm)
Collections This Print
Reference Literature	See bibliography on Rikio Takahashi page