版画の話（１６）Hanga(16)

左下が棟方志功のペンで書かれたサイン
On the bottom left corner,you can see his signature with pen

前回の棟方の挿絵版画は　版木は本物なのですが
刷りは別の職人が刷ったものです。
ある出版社が大量に刷らせたもののようで
棟方のフルサインが入るはずでしたが
本人は気が進まなかったのか　鉛筆ではなく
ペンで簡単なサインですましたようです。
すべて自分で刷り上げなかった棟方の
良心でしょうね。
作品は素晴らしいのですが　そのような経緯で
市場価値は低いようです。

As for this Munakata's Hanga,
the wooden plate is genuine,
i.e. he carved it in person.
But printing was done by other artisans.
Some publisher seemed to have them print
a large quantity of this Hanga.
Then Munakata was supposed to sign
his name in full.
However, he perhaps minded doing so.
Therefore, the signature was simply written
in pen not pencil.
As he didn't print them himself,
his conscience might have made
the signature like this.
The print is wonderful, but on that account
the market price appears to be low.