It is certainly a print, a Japanese woodblock print. The style of the figures and the clothes are Japanese. I could not find the seal, but it seems that it is at least partly written in Hiragana, with the first two characters being likely "ri" and "se". The last character looks like Kanji to me, but I cannot read it.
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_hiragana.htm
Hi Mat, thank you for your help, impressive.. Its Japanese. No wonder I couldn't find the language.
I don't think that this is a woodcut Mat. I know the difference between prints, woodcut, copper or steel and used techniques. I had a few of those Japanese woodcuts in the past but never kept them as I collect only AP oils and watercolors.
Ive only bought this painting after I checked it myself for being a brush aquarelle and it had the old back frame sealing intact, our daughter loved it and i was looking for a excuse to use her room for storage
. It is fairly large about 19.5x14 inch and painted on quality paper what looks like cotton paper?? with some age to it. Always thought it was mid late 20th century because of the way its painted and the style, or am I wrong??. I will upload some closeups where you can see which paper is used and closeups of the layers of paint, imperfections and other giveaways.
You were right about that its partly written in Hiragana. Tried to read it but have difficulties with the last symbol.
Is this last symbol made up with multiple symbols?
There is also a deception of three women writing something down on wind fans.
Do these symbol have a meaning and is it not strange for a artist to have his/her signature in gold paint?