One of very few books by Kojima Tokujiro, and a true artist's book; lovingly made with exceptional attention to detail, on a subject that was personally meaningful to the him.
Kojima Tokujiro (1912–1996) was born in Tokyo to a family of yuzen-dyers. Yuzen-zome is a form of textile dyeing which involves hand painting the dye directly onto (usually) woven silk cloth, as opposed to katazome, which uses a stencil. After years of working in the family business, it was only at the age of 30, in 1942, that Kojima visited the Mingei Museum in Tokyo and encountered the work of Keisuke Serizawa (1895 –1984). He was immensely taken by Serizawa's works, and from there Kojima made it his mission to learn from the great master. He eventually became Serizawa's apprentice (or deshi in Japanese), alongside Okamura Kichiemon (1916-2002).
Serizawa was an enthusiastic collector of art and antiques from Japan and around the world. Through working closely under him, Kojima was exposed to a wide variety of objects, from which he drew a great deal of inspiration. He was particularly taken by early European printing and illuminated manuscripts. This is certainly reflected in the present series of prints, which combines the aesthetic of a medieval choir book and Japanese stencil dyeing.
The subject of the present book is Schubert's Krähe. Winterreise No. 15 (Crows. Winter Journey no. 15). Outside of his textile dyeing practice, Kojima had a profound love of music – so much so that he brought a gramophone with him to an evacuation site during the War, as to him it was essential to live. He was particularly fond of Schubert's lieder and at the age of 77 decided to create a series of prints on the subject of his favourite piece. The prints illustrate the musical score and lyrics to the song, with the recurring motif of the crow running throughout.
It is only with a master craftsperson's skill and an artist's eye that a work like this can be achieved. Kojima beautifully balances type, layout, colour and decoration to form a composition that evokes Schubert's music.
No copies in OCLC, though the New York Public Library lists a copy as part of The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division.
