four-vintage-japanese-photographs-mounted-on-board
Lot 2055
Four Vintage Japanese Photographs Mounted on Board
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Each a black-and-white photograph, to include three works by Kinnosuke Tajima, Spring at Kamakura, dated March 1, 1961, printed Feb 1962 (12 3/4 x 21 in.), Mt. Fuji, dated November 7, 1961, printed Feb 1962 (14 3/8 x 21 in.), Bamboo Grove, printed Dec 1962 (21 x 14 3/4 in.); to also include a work by Mitsutoshi Hanaga (Japanese, born 1933), Sabi (12 7/8 x 15 7/8 in.).

Private Collection, New York and North Carolina

By descent from Ethel Novello, New York, New York

Ethel Novello was an art collector and fashion designer in New York City. She specialized in swimsuit design, clothing contestants for the Miss World Pageant, and her designs were featured in various publications throughout her career. Ethel's brother-in-law was a professor in Japan, and through this connection she acquired much of the Asian artwork offered here at auction.

Ethel's family had a long-time presence within the New York entertainment industry. Her mother, Ethel Novello McAssey, was a Broadway dancer. Her uncle was the famous Armando "Toto" Novello, also known as "Toto the Clown." Based in the Bronx, he was a traveling performer and silent film star throughout the early twentieth century.

Light surface abrasions; surface crackle; some wear and loss to edges.