The Lonely House at Asajigahara

Tokyo: Matsuki Heikichi, 1896. Woodcut in ink with embossing and hand-coloring in watercolor on handmade mulberry paper, 14 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches (368 x 251 mm), ōban tate-e, the full sheet. Scattered handling wear, adhesive residue and early linen tape repairs on the verso. Recto is largely unaffected. Meiji period (1868-1912), from the series of essays and images called Sketches by Gekkō (Gekkō zuihitsu). This particular essay from Gekkō zuihitsu is in reference to a legend of a strange, old woman who served a master who had a rare disease. The only cure for his ailment was the blood of children born in a certain month. The woman was said to roam the countryside taking small jobs in homes, secretly in search of children; a cautionary tale.

Ogata Gekkō (originally known as Nakagami Masanosuke) was a self-trained artist who was orphaned at a young age and survived by illustrating brochures, selling drawings, and designing rickshaws. While the likes of Kitagawa Utamaro, Hishikawa Moronobu, Keisei Eisen, and Suzuki Harunobu were regarded as the innovators and masters of the bijin-ga form, Gekkō was one of the first Japanese woodblock print designers to achieve international recognition during his lifetime.
- Parkstone International, Looking Beyond the Portrait, November 5, 2015.