This is an original signed Japanese silk screen poster printed in the 1969. This poster is ultra rare and is displayed in the world`s most prestigious galleries such as MoMA in New York City. It is very difficult / almost impossible to find in any condition.
Tadanori Yokoo did not sign any of his posters in the 1960s`s, therefore this poster was signed by him afterwards which elevates it`s uniqueness and rarity.
"Silkscreen poster for the Kabuki play Chinsetsu yumiharizuki (Strange Tales of the Bow Moon). Performed at the National Theatre of Japan (Kokuritsu Gekijo), Tokyo, starring Mishima Yukio." - DISPLAYED IN BRITISH MUSEUM, M PLUS GALLERY IN HK, MOMA
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_2011-3020-1
https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/collection/objects/kyogen-play-chinsetsu-yumihari-zuki-2016180/
This design was created for a Kabuki performance of Chinsetsu Yumihari-Zuki (Strange Tales of the Bow Moon) at the National Theatre in Tokyo, November 1969. The production was adapted and directed by Yukio Mishima, featuring Nakamura Ganjirō II (1902-1983) in the lead role. Elements of the design are drawn from Hokusai’s original illustrations for the serialized novel Chinsetsu Yumihari-Zuki (1807-11; British Museum copy JA1979, 0305,0.488). The poster is signed by Yokoo with the phrase "Faked by Tadanori, based on the Hokusai book" (Hokusai-bon ni yoru Tadanori gansaku).
Japan Poster Shop has acquired a substantial and unique collection of original Tadanori Yokoo posters from one of the most prolific collectors in Japan. This individual has a very colorful life story, having invested and dedicated many decades to his love for Tadanori Yokoo`s vibrant designs.
Silkscreen printing cannot produce the subtle tones that off-white or primary color printing can. Furthermore, although photoengraving is possible, it is crude and coarse, and only monochrome is possible; color photographs cannot be transferred. This means that this printing method can only produce flat, unshaded color divisions, like ukiyo-e woodblock prints, or photoengraving and printing methods that intentionally create a rough look, or a combination of these two, or a mixture of the two. Therefore, in today's world, when advanced reproduction techniques and printing methods have been developed, silkscreen printing can be said to be an extremely primitive and imperfect printing method. However, it is precisely because of this primitive imperfection that silkscreen printing has been highly developed.
It is a medium that retains a handcrafted, intimate feel like woodblock prints or lithographs, not found in offset or primary color printing, which are more common printing methods. Such handcrafted printing methods are themselves subcultural, and are therefore suitable as a means of printing posters for subcultural small theater groups, in the sense that the medium is the message.
The fact that Yokoo Tadanori's zine-like posters were quickly recognized as artistic was of course due to the content of the images, but it is also true that the silkscreen, which is in a sense an artistic medium, contributed to his success. Yokoo's aims of artistry, agitation for popular culture, and subcultural zine-like communication were fully realized by choosing the medium of silkscreen.
Please refer to the imagery (both front and back) as this is the exact poster that is for sale.
It is over 55 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
*Please note the price is fixed for this item. It is not included in any of our periodic sales (e.g. Black Friday)!*