Gendai Shogyo Bijutsu Zenshu – The Complete Commercial Artist

Hamada Masuji and others.

現代商業美術全集 [Gendai Shogyo Bijutsu Zenshu – The Complete Commercial Artist]. 

Tokyo, Ars 1928-30 (Showa 3 – 5).

24 volumes (each vol. approx. 100-150 pp. including plates). Publisher’s announcements loosely inserted in several volumes.

26,5 x 19 cm. Publisher’s wrappers and printed card slipcases.

sold

From 1928 to 1930, Tokyo-based publisher Ars アルス issued a major twenty-four–volume illustrated compendium of commercial design with extensive annotation and theoretical analysis titled Gendai shōgyō bijutsu zenshū 現代商業美術全集 in Japanese. With more than two-thirds of each volume comprised of illustrations, this landmark production served as a rich trove of design ideas—all at one’s fingertips—for easy reference or adaptation. Essay contributors included seventy-one well-known professional practitioners, educators, and journalists active in the Japanese design field.

At once encyclopedic and carrying a manifesto-like charge, The Complete Commercial Artist was both an important record of original design work by named artists from the period and an invaluable trade publication for disseminating the most up-to-date design practices.

For the first fifteen numbered volumes, six editorial committee members guided the project, including Sugiura Hisui 杉浦非水 (1876–1965), renowned principal designer for the Mitsukoshi department store; Watanabe Soshū 渡辺素舟 (1890–1986), a well-known author on decorative arts and crafts and a soon- to-be-professor of design at the Imperial Art School (now Musashino Art University); Tatsuke Yoichirō 田附与一郎 (a.k.a. 田附與一郎; active after 1920), director of the Japanese Advertising Study Association; Miyashita Takao 宮下孝雄 (1890–1972), professor of industrial arts at the Tokyo Higher School of Arts and Technology; and Hamada Masuji 濱田増治 (1892–1938) and Nakada Sadanosuke 仲田定之助 (1888–1970), director and managing committee member, respectively, of the Commercial Artists Association (CAA; Shōgyō Bijutsuka Kyōkai 商業美術家協会).

It is clear, however, that among these editors, Hamada was the driving force of the series from its inception, and during the course of its production he was elevated to the role of chief editor.

Quoted from: THE COMPLETE COMMERCIAL ARTIST: MAKING MODERN DESIGN IN JAPAN 1928-1930. Selected pages from all 24 volumes. Ed. by Gennifer Weisenfeld. San Francisco 2024. Detailed further information with numerous illustrations can be found on the website: letterformarchive

Condition: All volumes, with the exception of volume 22, in their original cardboard slipcases. The slipcases show minor signs of wear on the edges, one have stains. The bindings are in good condition, with only four volumes having minor and slightly larger imperfections on the spine. Inside, the copies are clean and fresh. Despite the minor flaws, this is one of the best sets I have seen. Individual volumes can be found on the market from time to time, but complete series in good condition, as offered here, are very rare.