Hanga Reinvented: The Creative Print is a dynamic selection of mid-20th century Japanese and Japanese-American screenprints, etchings, engravings, and woodcuts from the Museum’s permanent collection. Hanga, or print, taken from the phrase Sôsaku Hanga (Creative Prints) refers to an exciting reemergence of printmakers in Japan who broke away from the traditional ukiyo-e style—a process that involved a quartet of highly skilled people that included the artist, block carver, printer, and publisher—and instead turned toward a personal, experimental approach executed solely by the artist himself. This brief movement in Japan from the 1920s through the late 1950s brought about new, eclectic styles by artists who were profoundly influenced by western ideas and abstract art from Europe. By incorporating the use of brilliant colors, simple geometric shapes, large empty spaces, and vertical compositions, these artists synthesized a new printmaking culture in Japan and made a strong impact on artists in the United States.
The works in this exhibition will be shown for the first time and include the bold colored woodcuts and etchings by Japanese artists Yukio Fukazawa and Fukita Fumiaki; the subdued woodcuts by Kiyoshi Saito and Okiie Hashimoto, among others such as Kunihiro Amano, Kunito Nagaoka, and Esaki Yasuhiro. The Japanese-American artists include a silkscreen by Northern California artist Arthur Okamura, an aquatint etching by Michi Itami, and a wood engraving by Misch Kohn.
Image: Yukio Fukazawa, A Record, 1965, etching on paper, gift of Dorothy Atkinson