Been holding onto them for awhile now

And I have a feeling I was sitting on something good and did not even realize it. Japanese Wood Block Prints. I know these are original, but have yet figured out who the artist or time period they came from. Trying to look it up now. Lots of artist to go through.

I know these (originals) go from $100 to $1,000 each. I have four of them, each professionally framed and previously cataloged. Most likely for an auction. Here is one of them with the signatures. They are all from same artist.



here is a view of the signature:



so if anyone knows about this type of art, please do let me know what I have.

Thanks

A little update, still have not found out what I have. Done alot of researching and emailing people. Only had one person email me back, from an art museum, and unfortunately he does not specialize in Japanese art. However he did give me two more leads to go after. Just sent them the photos. So hopefully I will hear back from them by Tuesday.

i'm no expert but i do know a bit about art.  worked as a conservator/restoration and was minoring in asian art history (never finished my bfa) anyway...a couple of things. you'll need to get better pictures for anyone to tell anything. there's a lot of nuances in the paper and ink that'll help the appraising and honestly no matter how good of a pic you take, to make any kind of real determination they'll need to see it in person. asian scenes are popular...lots of nice looking cheap prints are made. even a hundred years ago they made things in china that were essentially just for tourist as trading opened up so by volume there's a lot of really cool asian things to be found that aren't very valuable. it's a cool print though. is there paper on the back of the frame? can you easily remove the print? looking at the back of the frame can you tell how well is it made? thats not a clear determining factor but can offer a clue. also what other things were in the locker? did they have other asian item? if so were they nice peaces or that fake resin crap? take some pics of the back and if you can remove it from the frame do so and take a pic? sometimes the frame shop will leave a card or info on the back after they seal it

also it's not hard to make paper look old. do you see little bits of grain particles in the paper or is it pretty consistent? also a lot of early asian prints aren't that nicely proportioned to fit in a standard sized frame to fit on a standard size american homes. a lot of the real prints of this type are odd sizes and some of the really important works are in scroll form. 9.99 times out of 10 you're just gonna have a cool looking print. with the color being so full and perfect i'm guessing wood block. the color is so perfect from what i can tell in the picture that i'd say it's nothing major. it's rare that these survive in this condition if it were real (meaning substantial in anyway). even the ones taken care of will lose color unless cared for in museum conditions. on the rare occasion you did find the one out of a million that some guy bought during the war for $10  from a street peddler that belonged to the emperor it's not gonna look that good because of the paper and ink and lack of uv protected glass etc....whew thas a long run-on sentence. good luck

Thank you for your insight. Now to answer some of your questions:


I am copying directly one of my emails to some art galleries that specialize in Japanese wood block prints:

Hi,
I was hoping you can take a look at these 4 prints I have acquired. I
am hoping to get some more information on them, at this time I dont
know anything about them. Wanted to know when they were made
(estimate) ID the artist, and the estimated value of them thanks. They
are all professional framed. I took a magnifying glass to them and I
dont see any dots.

1. Artist Name: Unknown (supplying a closeup cut out of artist's seal,
all by same artist)
2. Print Title: Unknown
3. Dimensions: Professional frames are 16 1/4 x 20 1/4, the prints
themselves are 11 x 15 1/4
4. History of Print: I acquired them while cleaning out a storage
locker, on the back they are cataloged for maybe an auction or a
museum. Further details on bottom:
5. When and where print was acquired: In storage locker I bought two months ago.
6. phone Number: 210-257-5255
7. Email address: [email protected]

Catalog numbers on back of frame:
Print 1: GTD-1-2
Print 2: SCB-1-1  also has number 246 on it.
Print 3:"BLANK"
Print 4:SDD-1-1

Now as far as opening, I opened one of them to see if I can find some other markings, even a censor seal, which I never did find. This paper has actually been glued to the back of the frame. Which in either case is not good. Saying that more than likely it is a fake (which I am not 100% sure on as of yet) or by doing this they lowered the value of the prints dramatically.

The papers pretty consistent.

Well I found a guy to take a look at it here locally, and will be making me an offer to buy it from me if he likes it. Hes a local dealer who specializes in Japanese art.

an easy way to remove the paper the framer put on the back is to use a chip brush or damp rag. use warm water and carefully moisten where the paper touches the frame. the glue will release and you can use a scraper, putty knife to remove the glue. warm water is easily the most underrated solvent
 

an easy way to remove the paper the framer put on the back is to use a chip brush or damp rag. use warm water and carefully moisten where the paper touches the frame. the glue will release and you can use a scraper, putty knife to remove the glue. warm water is easily the most underrated solvent
 

Its one of those paper/Styrofoam mixture backings that the art is glued onto.

Well I got it looked at. Sad Sad Sad news. Its a decorative piece, no more than 20 years old. Worth about 10 bucks a piece. However I have Asian Festival coming up here in a few months. If I havent sold them by then, I will be trying to unload them at the festival for 20 dollars a piece.

Oh BTW, according to the guy who looked at it, its Chinese not Japanese.

Well I got it looked at. Sad Sad Sad news. Its a decorative piece, no more than 20 years old. Worth about 10 bucks a piece. However I have Asian Festival coming up here in a few months. If I havent sold them by then, I will be trying to unload them at the festival for 20 dollars a piece.

Oh BTW, according to the guy who looked at it, its Chinese not Japanese.

Any chance they were wrong and you get a second opinion?

Any chance they were wrong and you get a second opinion?

Its the only local place I have found that would give me some kind of information. Everywhere else I tried either dont respond back or tell me they dont know anything about the piece. So even though I hate it, I am having to accept his opinion.