Art Print Postcard PLUM BLOSSOMS IN A WHITE VASE by Yasuda Yukihiko

This beautiful post card is created with "COLLOTYPE", a unique printing method that was invented in France and perfected by Japanese craftsman over 150 years. Rich, opaque pigment ink is carefully printed on paper, layer by layer, for an unparalleled depth, detail and intensity, even in black and white. 

Plum Blossoms in a White Vase 

Along with historical paintings and figure paintings, still life works that combined flowers and classic art were an important subject for Yasuda Yukihiko. Yasuda favored plum blossoms above all other flowers, and a number of splendid works remain from the sketches he made of the many rare varieties of plum he cultivated in the garden of his studio. A white flower vase, blooming red and white plum blossoms, and their black stems spreading in all directions are positioned against a vermillion background that uses the “tarashikomi” technique of inserting colored pigment into still-wet ink. The color contrast of white, red, and black is in perfect balance, and the clear lines that compose this work display Yukihiko’s particular talents well. Yukihiko appreciated classic Chinese and Korean ceramics, and the white vase was one of the artist’s own possessions included in this painting for the sake of the composition. The “Ding” in the title is the name of a kiln in Jingdezhen that is typical of Chinese Song dynasty white porcelain.

Collotype is an interesting fusion between French and Japanese discoveries. The printing process was discovered in France, about 150 years ago. It was a new style of printing that combines photography and printmaking and the results are one-of-a-kind. BENRIDO was established in 1887 in Kyoto, where they have been specializing in Collotype printing since 1905. With over a century of experience in the craft, they are one of the very few Collotype studios left, and the world???s only one that produces full-color photographic Collotype prints. They have won several awards and recognitions and have been responsible for many big art works and projects in Japan and abroad.

Yukihiko Yasuda was the pseudonym of a major figure in Taish?? and early Sh??wa period Japanese painting, and is regarded as one of the founders of the Japanese painting technique of nihonga. Yasuda was known primarily for his paintings on historical themes, and occasionally for portraiture or bird-and-flower paintings