Keith | Bridge at Suzhou

Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)

苏州桥景
Bridge at Suzhou

1924

木版画 | 横绘大大判 | 26cm x 38cm
Woodblock-print | Large Oban Yoko-e | 26cm x 38cm

初摺；品相非常好
First edition; very good condition

$5,000

伊丽莎白·基思，英国画家，1887年出生于苏格兰阿伯丁，1898年移居伦敦。28岁那年，她为探望妹妹第一次前往日本，原本计划的短程旅途，未曾想一待便是9年。除日本外，游历广泛的她还去过中国、韩国、菲律宾等国。1919年，从韩国旅行归来的她在东京展出了一系列韩国风景水彩画，迅速引起了渡边庄三郎的注意。在他的帮助下，基思创作了一百余幅版画，并在日本及海外多地大获成功，举办的多次画展更是几乎场场爆满。二战爆发后，她增加了画展场次，并将筹集的款项悉数捐给中国，用以帮助那些在战争中不幸被强征的慰安妇。战后，她与渡边版画店重建起合作关系，于1956年在东京举办了个展，同年因病于伦敦逝世，享年69岁。

怀着对中国文化与人民的深深眷恋，在基思一生为数不多的作品中，有相当一部分是以中国各地风景为题材。天色黯淡，斜风细雨，一座不知名的苏州古弧形三孔石拱桥身着青苔，默默地凝视着人来船往。桥中央的桥屋斗角飞檐，内有两人避雨谈天，外有一名过桥的挑担货郎；桥下河水如蓝绸缎般，承载着小木舟、运货船、乌篷船轻轻驶过，飘向远方。白墙青瓦，杨柳依依，百年前的袅袅水乡，似乎是更贴近今人印象中的烟雨江南。

因为印量极少，基思的版画大多稀有且昂贵，一些仅出版过50甚至30张的作品在市场上更是寥若晨星。在生前，她的部分作品就已入藏大英博物馆、巴黎吉美博物馆及加拿大国家美术馆；1937年，一组由她创作的东方题材版画被彼时还是伊丽莎白王后的伊丽莎白王太后购藏，其受重视程度不言而喻。

Elizabeth Keith was born in Scotland and came to Japan in 1915 when she was 28 with her sister and brother-in-law; she ended up staying nine years. During that time, she used Tokyo as her home base while travelling extensively around Asia. She became close with Shozaburo Watanabe, the father of Shin Hanga, and he published roughly 100 of her designs.

“Bridge at Suzhou” dates from 1924. Like Hiroshige, Hasui and many others before her, Keith embraced all the dramatic and compositional possibilities of a sudden downpour. The rain has washed away much of the day’s pigment, leaving a muted palette evocative of a watercolor, with geometric and atmospheric perspectives creating a visceral feeling of depth as the canal winds its way into the gray distance.

This was a time when the Western world was fascinated by all things Japan, and, similarly, most things Asian. To us Chinese it was just another day in the life. But Keith and her contemporaries were providing audiences back home with never-seen sites and views, as well as customs and traditions that must have seemed quite romantic.

The arched stone bridge was built in the 1700s. It is referred to as a “pavilion bridge” because of the house-like structure on the top. Several other high bridges span the same canal. Does Keith succeed in capturing this scene without defaulting to cliché or “othering” the Chinese as charming Asian curiosities? I think so. Her prints always featured people in their daily lives. Yes, there is a hint of romantic exoticism, but it is done, I believe, with affection.

Because of small runs, Keith's prints can be expensive, and some works with only 50 or even 30 copies published are especially rare. They were collected by the British Museum, the Guimet Museum in Paris and the National Gallery of Canada, among others; in 1937, a group of Asian-themed prints created by her were purchased by Queen Elizabeth. She died in 1956.

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