Shortly after 1900, two new developments shaped woodblock prints in Japan: first, sōsaku hanga (»creative print«), influenced by the European method of production in which a single artist does all the work on a print himself, and second, shin-hanga (»new print«), in which new motifs were produced at the time in the traditional Japanese manner with a draftsman, a carver, and a printer. In the spirit of the European-oriented sōsaku hanga-approach, and thus as an artist acting alone, Onchi Kōshirō contributed mainly to the spread of abstract motifs in Japanese woodblock prints as well as to their international reception.
»Creative Prints« in Chicago
Japanese Woodblock Prints of the 20th Century in »Onchi Kōshirō: Affection for Shapeless Things«
From October 16, 2021 through January 10, 2022, the Art Institute Chicago will devote a special exhibition to artist Onchi Kōshirō, arguably the most prominent exponent of modern Japanese woodblock printing. Kōshirō is representative of the sōsaku hanga-movement which combined Japanese and European traditions of woodblock printing.
October 16, 2021
Recent auction results of Onchi Kōshirō
Kōshirō lived from 1891 to 1955 and at the beginning of his career was also active as a book designer and later as a photographer. He joined the sōsaku hanga-movement for two reasons: the European way of working focused on only one artist so that his or her artistic expression could be fully expressed, and Kōshirō saw woodblock printing as the best way to work in a truly abstract manner. He felt this technique was more independent of an artist's style than drawing, and it required more intense planning in composition.
The Art Institute Chicago exhibits Kōshirō as a central figure of the sōsaku hanga-group. Kōshirō's oeuvre is comparatively small, making this exhibition an amazing rarity that adds an exciting chapter to the view of modernist art.
Dive deeper into the art world
London, Tate Britain
»The 80s: Photographing Britain«
It was one of the most moving decades in the history of the United Kingdom: the 1980s, characterized by strikes, protests and AIDS. Photographers documented this period and in some cases became political activists themselves through their images. The exhibition The 80s: Photographing Britain opens on November 21 at the Tate Britain in London.
November 21, 2024
Guido Klumpe
In search of poetry in urban spaces
It is in the context of functional architecture in urban spaces that Guido Klumpe finds the motifs that he stages with his camera as the poetry of the profane. His picturesque images unfold an opulent effect with a reduced formal language, showing us the beauty of the moment in the flow of everyday life.
by Felix Brosius,
November 19, 2024
