Artistic Identification
Itō’s personal artistic style is in many cases the only way to identify his sketches and prints due to the absence of an artists signature or proper attribution from producers and employers. The following helpful information can be found in the footnotes of the paper "Kumataro Itō, Japanese Artist on Board the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries Steamer Albatross" by Victor Springer, in this paper Mr. Springer notes that Kumataro Itō's personal artistic style is recognizable due to several elements in particular;
"Itō’s illustrations are readily recognized from the general appearance of the subject, the media, the thin rice paper used for the preliminary color sketches, the mouth (anatomy permitting), almost always illustrated as at least slightly open (usually more), and the eye rendered to include a pale, definitely triangular area radiating out from about midpupil towards the 10 or 11 o’clock position on the iris."
The images shown on this and the following pages allow for ample evidence to support this artistic identification of Mr. Itō through the vast amount of sea life and plants illustrated and described.