Description

original-colour woodblock print. EXTREMELY RARE.

Original antique woodblock print of a large barn-like Philippine cockpit arena, called Sabungan or Gallera, where a crowd of men (Sabungeros) are seated, watching a cock fight after having wagered on the outcome.

Elizabeth Keith (1887 – 1956) was a Scottish artist and writer, a print-maker and watercolourist whose works were significantly influenced by her travels to Japan, China, Korea and the Philippines, where she arrived in 1924 and traveled for several months before returning to England. She painted vivid and joyful scenes of places and people in traditional and common dress, and cultural rituals were central to her imagery which she converted into extremely well-executed and attractive coloured woodblock prints and etchings in small, limited editions of only 30 to 100, of which only few survived. These include images of her visits to Manila, Baguio, Zamboanga and Sulu, which established her reputation as a foremost artist using the Japanese woodblock technique, much desired by collectors worldwide. [see bibliographic references]. She had learned the methods of traditional Japanese woodblock printing during her stay in Japan, emulating the work of Katsushika Hokusai, Ando Hiroshige, and Kitagawa Utamaro.