889 - Inoue Yasuji 井上安治 (Japanese, 1864-1889) Evening View of Asakusa Bridge (Asakusabashi Yukei); Hakone Shrine in Snow (Hakone Jinja Yuki) Two Japanese woodblock prints from the series Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo (Tokyo meisho), printed by Fukuda Kumajiro, with artist's signatures and seals and publisher's seal Size:(approx. 23 x 34.5cm) Qty: (2) Provenance: British private collection Notes: Please refer to impressions of these woodblock prints at the Harvard Art Museum, collection no. 1933.4.344; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, collection no. 1969.32.3.1; National Museum of Asian Art, collection no. S2003.8.195; S2003.8.1230 Inoue Yasuji also known as Inoue Tankei, was the sole recognised pupil of Kobayashi Kiyochika and a notable interpreter of his master’s modern landscape style. Born in Asakusa to a merchant family, he is thought to have initially trained under Tsukioka Yoshitoshi before entering Kiyochika’s circle around 1878–79. Yasuji produced a relatively small number of independent designs early on, but between 1881 and 1884 he became highly active, creating over one hundred prints with many in small-format series often referred to as Tokyo meisho (Famous Views of Tokyo). His work closely followed Kiyochika’s atmospheric treatment of light and shadow, though with a generally clearer and less dramatic sensibility. In 1884 he abandoned this approach, adopting the name Tankei and turning to more conventional nishiki-e triptychs depicting contemporary events. His career was cut short by his death at the age of twenty-five, a loss said to have deeply affected Kiyochika.