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a book with a picture of a man with a flower in his mouth
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Estimate €1,400 - €2,000
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Description
Photography Hosoe, Eikoh Barakei – Killed by Roses. With 43 photogravure plates. (Introduction by Yukio Mishima. Design by Kohei Sugiura). Tokyo, Shueisha, 1963. Folio. Illustrated original cloth binding with transparent protective slipcase in an illustrated cardboard slipcase. (The slipcase is somewhat heavily rubbed in places; the acetate protective slipcase is slightly torn at the head). Auer 422. Heiting/Kaneko 368 ff., 279. The Open Book 194 ff. Parr/Badger I, 280 ff. (with several illustrations). Roth, *The Book of 101 Books* 164 ff. – First edition, arguably the most important Japanese photobook of the 1960s. – Signed by E. Hosoe and Y. Mishima in the colophon. One of 1,500 numbered copies. - *Barakei* (‘Ordeal by Roses’, internationally known as *Killed by Roses* or, later, *Ordeal by Roses*) is regarded as one of the most significant Japanese photobooks of the post-war period and as a key work in the history of international photobooks of the 20th century. It arose from the collaboration, begun in 1961, between the photographer Eikoh Hosoe and the writer Yukio Mishima, who served as the model for the entire series of images. The 43 gravure plates – some of which are high-contrast and extend right to the edge of the page – depict Mishima in surreal, theatrical tableaux that blend themes such as birth, death, sexuality, captivity and myth. The distinctive tactile and sensual quality of *Barakei* is largely attributable to the printing technique used: the 43 plates were not produced using conventional screen printing, but via the elaborate screen gravure process (sheet-fed gravure, a technique related to photogravure) – a process that lends the photography a velvety, almost three-dimensional depth that remains unattainable in conventional offset printing. In contrast to the flat, often harsh contrast of screen printing, gravure produces a continuous tonal gradient: black does not appear opaque, but rather velvety, heavy and light-absorbing, whilst the half-tones take on an almost tangible texture. It is particularly in Hoso’s high-contrast, body-centred compositions – Mishima’s naked body, entwined with roses, fabrics and baroque props – that this process unfolds to its full effect: skin surfaces take on an almost tangible materiality, shadows gain volume, and the work’s erotic and morbid visual language is heightened by the physical presence of the printed surface itself. As a result, the plates appear less like reproduced photographs and more like independent, object-like visual entities – an effect recognised by critics such as Andrew Roth as part of the overall concept, in which ‘merely opening (the publication) is a pleasure’. A few pages slightly rubbed; a fine copy. With 43 photogravure plates. Folio. Illustrated original cloth binding with clear plastic protective jacket, in illustrated original slipcase. (The slipcase is somewhat more heavily rubbed in places; the acetate protective jacket is slightly torn at the top of the spine). - First edition, arguably the most important Japanese photobook of the 1960s. - Signed by both E. Hosoe and Y. Mishima in the colophon. One of 1,500 numbered copies. - *Barakei* (‘chastisement by roses’, internationally known as *Killed by Roses* and, later, *Ordeal by Roses*) is regarded as one of the most important Japanese photobooks of the post-war era and a key work in the international history of the 20th-century photobook. It grew out of the collaboration, which began in 1961, between the photographer Eikoh Hosoe and the writer Yukio Mishima, who served as the model for the entire series of images. The 43 plates, some of which are high-contrast and printed right to the very edge of the page, depict Mishima in surreal, theatrical tableaux that blend themes of birth, death, sexuality, entrapment and myth. The distinctive tactile, sensuous quality of *Barakei* stems essentially from the printing technique used: the 43 plates are produced not using ordinary halftone printing but through the elaborate sheet-fed gravure process (a technique closely related to photogravure), which lends the photographs a velvety, almost sculptural depth unattainable through conventional offset printing. Unlike the flat, often harsh contrast of halftone printing, gravure produces a continuous tonal gradation: black appears not as a flat, opaque tone but as a velvety, weighty, light-absorbing depth, whilst the mid-tones acquire an almost tangible texture. This effect comes into its own in Hosoe’s high-contrast, body-centred compositions—Mishima’s naked body entwined with roses, fabrics and baroque props: skin surfaces take on an almost palpable materiality, shadows gain volume, and the work’s erotically morbid visual language is intensified by the physical presence of the printed surface itself. As a result, the plates read less like reproduced photographs than as self-contained, object-like bodies of imagery—an effect that critics such as Andrew Roth have praised as part of the book’s overall conception, one in which ‘merely opening the publication is a pleasure’. A few leaves are somewhat rubbed. A good copy. This lot is subject to standard tax. A 24.95% buyer’s premium is payable on the hammer price, and 7% (Books and Art) or 19% VAT (Manuscripts, Screenprints, Offset Prints, Photographs) is payable on the final invoice amount within the European Union. This lot is subject to the standard tax regime. A 24.95% buyer’s premium applies to the hammer price, and 7% (books and art) or 19% VAT (manuscripts, screen prints, offset prints and photographs) applies to the final invoice amount within the European Union.
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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