Engravings - Grabados: Hiratsuka Unichi - Part 2
Posted by Ricardo Marcenaro | Posted in Engravings - Grabados: Hiratsuka Unichi - Part 2 | Posted on 3:54
A bush warbler and plum tree
http://www.unichihiratsuka.com/
http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m250.htm
http://www.viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts/sosakutexts/sosaku_pages/hiratsuka3.html
HIRATSUKA Un'ichi (1895-1997)
Hiratsuka Hiratsuka kanji Hiratsuka Un'ichi (????), one of the pre-eminent figures in the sosaku hanga movement, was born in Matsue, Honshû. In 1913 he met the artist Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958), a western-style painter and printmaker who had published the first sosaku hanga print (Yamamoto Kanae's "Fisherman") in the magazine Myôjô in 1904. Ishii admired Hiratsuka's painting, and in 1915 the younger artist moved to Tokyo to continue his study with Ishii, who urged him to learn block carving and printing. He did so for about six months with Igami Bonkotsu (1875-1933), becoming the best-trained block carver in the sosaku hanga movement. Hiratsuka exhibited his first prints in 1916 at an exhibition of the independent Nika-kai ("Second Division Society"), and by the 1920s his reputation in the world of printmaking was considerable. It is likely that Hiratsuka had some influence upon nearly every important sosaku hanga artist. He taught sessions on woodblock printing in various parts of Japan, inspiring, among many students, the great Munakata Shikô, who learned to use the v-shaped chisel from Hiratsuka when they first met in 1928. Between 1935 and 1944 Hiratsuka taught the first blockprinting course at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (Fumio Kitaoka and Okiie Hashimoto were among his students). In 1948 he established his own school in Tokyo. He moved to Washington D.C. in 1962, but ultimately returned to Japan in 1994. Hiratsuka was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1970, and in 1991, the Hiratsuka Un'ichi Print Museum was opened in Suzaka, Nagano Prefecture.
Hiratsuka's daughter, Keiko Hiratsuka Moore, has said that her father considered the dating and numbering of his prints to be a nuisance, a practice expected by western collectors, but not one that was compatible with his own views. At times, Hiratsuka, perhaps mischievously, randomly numbered some impressions or made up the size of editions. Thus we are faced with the possibility that impressions of Hiratsuka's prints may occasionally have misleading edition numbers. She also reports that typically her father rarely made more than a dozen or so of most of his designs. In contrast, Oliver Statler, who interviewed Hiratsuka, wrote in the mid-1950s that Hiratsuka's editions typically ran between 30 and 50 impressions. There are certainly known exceptions, such as one image of Saint Nichiren, intended for an edition of 10,000 in the manner of devotional Buddhist images (Hiratsuka was a serious collector of old Buddhist prints, some dating from the late Heian period, 898-1185), but reaching more like 1,475 impressions by Hiratsuka's death. At the opposite end of the range, Hiratsuka's design of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 1975 visit to the U.S. of the emperor and empress of Japan was made in a single impression for the exclusive possession of the Imperial household. It appears that Hiratsuka often printed only as many copies of his works as were needed or requested over the years, so more research is needed to sort out the number of extant impressions for each of Hiratsuka's designs.
Hiratsuka_detail Hiratsuka's grandfather was an architect who designed houses and temples, and his father was a shrine carpenter, so the artist was introduced to wood-working and architecture early in his life. The figure on the top right depicts the Shôsôin at the Tôdai Temple in Nara, the famous 8th-century repository of Imperial treasures. Printed in 1958, it is a large-format work measuring approximately 80 x 61 cm. Although he made full-color prints, Hiratsuka believed that the combination of black and white had a special and challenging beauty, and to be successful using only these two colors an artist had to capture the rhythm of line and mass. White was not merely negative space, but a value equal to black, and each color had to harmonize with the other. In Hiratsuka's portrayal of the Shôsôin, the stark contrast of the bright white paper and dense black, achieved through multiple printings, is complemented by a bold, receding perspective seen from a low vantage point. The overhanging roof runs right to the top edge of the image and the massive wooden beams jut out in evenly spaced, rhythmical horizontals. The mass of architectural and garden detail is further energized by Hiratsuka's characteristic carving, a technique he developed called tsukibori ("poking strokes") made with small square-end chisel (aisuki), rocking the blade side to side in short strokes. This produced rough, jagged edges that he used in selected areas of the design (see the detail of the column on the immediate right), which Hiratsuka believed gave his work power and substance. © 2001 by John Fiorillo
BIBLIOGRAPHY
* Jenkins, D.: Images of a Changing World: Japanese Prints of the Twentieth Century. Portland Art Museum, 1983, pp. 92-97.
* Merrit, H., et al.: Hiratsuka: Modern Master. Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
* Merritt, Helen: Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990, pp. 200-210.
* Smith, L.: Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989. British Museum, 1994, pp. 24, 45-46, nos. 23-24.
* Statler, Oliver: Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn. Rutland & Tokyo: Tuttle, 1956, pp. 35-44, nos. 15-21.
Hiratsuka Unichi (????, 1895 – 1997), born in Matsue in Honshu, was one of the prominent leaders of the sosaku hanga movement in 20th Century Japan. Hiratsuka was the best–trained woodcarver in the sosaku hanga movement. From 1928 onwards, he taught the renowned sosaku hanga artist Munakata Shiko (1903-1975) wood carving. Between 1935 and 1944 Hiratsuka taught the first blockprinting course at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. He moved to Washington D.C. in 1962, and spent thirty three years in the United States. While living in Washington DC, he was commissioned by three standing Presidents to carve woodblock prints of National Landmarks, which included The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument and The Library of Congress which are in the collections of The National Gallery and Freer Gallery today. He ultimately returned to Japan in 1994. Hiratsuka was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1970. In 1991, the Hiratsuka Unichi Print Museum was opened in Suzaka, Nagano Prefecture.
Hiratsuka's father was a shrine carpenter, and his grandfather was an architect who designed houses and temples. Therefore the artist was introduced to wood-working and architecture early in his life. Many of his woodblock prints are of temples, bridges, in addition to landscapes he captured in his travels throughout Japan, Korea, and the United States. Hiratsuka was also a serious collector of old Buddhist prints, and his works are influenced by his exposure to Buddhist figures. He also had an extensive collection of roof tiles, Judaica and Bibles in every language, and when he was not practicing his art, spent hours reading. Hiratsuka's techniques and styles evolved over his lifetime. Pre-WWII blocks included many color woodblock prints and engravings, while after WWII, he worked almost exclusively on black-and-white prints. His most famous technique is called tsukibori ("poking strokes"). With a small square-end chisel (aisuki), Hiratsuka rocked the blade side to side in short strokes, producing rough and jagged edges. His family has a website: www.unichihiratsuka.com
[edit] Reference and further reading
Merritt, H., et al. Hiratsuka: Modern Master. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m250.htm
http://www.viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts/sosakutexts/sosaku_pages/hiratsuka3.html
HIRATSUKA Un'ichi (1895-1997)
Hiratsuka Hiratsuka kanji Hiratsuka Un'ichi (????), one of the pre-eminent figures in the sosaku hanga movement, was born in Matsue, Honshû. In 1913 he met the artist Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958), a western-style painter and printmaker who had published the first sosaku hanga print (Yamamoto Kanae's "Fisherman") in the magazine Myôjô in 1904. Ishii admired Hiratsuka's painting, and in 1915 the younger artist moved to Tokyo to continue his study with Ishii, who urged him to learn block carving and printing. He did so for about six months with Igami Bonkotsu (1875-1933), becoming the best-trained block carver in the sosaku hanga movement. Hiratsuka exhibited his first prints in 1916 at an exhibition of the independent Nika-kai ("Second Division Society"), and by the 1920s his reputation in the world of printmaking was considerable. It is likely that Hiratsuka had some influence upon nearly every important sosaku hanga artist. He taught sessions on woodblock printing in various parts of Japan, inspiring, among many students, the great Munakata Shikô, who learned to use the v-shaped chisel from Hiratsuka when they first met in 1928. Between 1935 and 1944 Hiratsuka taught the first blockprinting course at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (Fumio Kitaoka and Okiie Hashimoto were among his students). In 1948 he established his own school in Tokyo. He moved to Washington D.C. in 1962, but ultimately returned to Japan in 1994. Hiratsuka was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1970, and in 1991, the Hiratsuka Un'ichi Print Museum was opened in Suzaka, Nagano Prefecture.
Hiratsuka's daughter, Keiko Hiratsuka Moore, has said that her father considered the dating and numbering of his prints to be a nuisance, a practice expected by western collectors, but not one that was compatible with his own views. At times, Hiratsuka, perhaps mischievously, randomly numbered some impressions or made up the size of editions. Thus we are faced with the possibility that impressions of Hiratsuka's prints may occasionally have misleading edition numbers. She also reports that typically her father rarely made more than a dozen or so of most of his designs. In contrast, Oliver Statler, who interviewed Hiratsuka, wrote in the mid-1950s that Hiratsuka's editions typically ran between 30 and 50 impressions. There are certainly known exceptions, such as one image of Saint Nichiren, intended for an edition of 10,000 in the manner of devotional Buddhist images (Hiratsuka was a serious collector of old Buddhist prints, some dating from the late Heian period, 898-1185), but reaching more like 1,475 impressions by Hiratsuka's death. At the opposite end of the range, Hiratsuka's design of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 1975 visit to the U.S. of the emperor and empress of Japan was made in a single impression for the exclusive possession of the Imperial household. It appears that Hiratsuka often printed only as many copies of his works as were needed or requested over the years, so more research is needed to sort out the number of extant impressions for each of Hiratsuka's designs.
Hiratsuka_detail Hiratsuka's grandfather was an architect who designed houses and temples, and his father was a shrine carpenter, so the artist was introduced to wood-working and architecture early in his life. The figure on the top right depicts the Shôsôin at the Tôdai Temple in Nara, the famous 8th-century repository of Imperial treasures. Printed in 1958, it is a large-format work measuring approximately 80 x 61 cm. Although he made full-color prints, Hiratsuka believed that the combination of black and white had a special and challenging beauty, and to be successful using only these two colors an artist had to capture the rhythm of line and mass. White was not merely negative space, but a value equal to black, and each color had to harmonize with the other. In Hiratsuka's portrayal of the Shôsôin, the stark contrast of the bright white paper and dense black, achieved through multiple printings, is complemented by a bold, receding perspective seen from a low vantage point. The overhanging roof runs right to the top edge of the image and the massive wooden beams jut out in evenly spaced, rhythmical horizontals. The mass of architectural and garden detail is further energized by Hiratsuka's characteristic carving, a technique he developed called tsukibori ("poking strokes") made with small square-end chisel (aisuki), rocking the blade side to side in short strokes. This produced rough, jagged edges that he used in selected areas of the design (see the detail of the column on the immediate right), which Hiratsuka believed gave his work power and substance. © 2001 by John Fiorillo
BIBLIOGRAPHY
* Jenkins, D.: Images of a Changing World: Japanese Prints of the Twentieth Century. Portland Art Museum, 1983, pp. 92-97.
* Merrit, H., et al.: Hiratsuka: Modern Master. Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
* Merritt, Helen: Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990, pp. 200-210.
* Smith, L.: Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989. British Museum, 1994, pp. 24, 45-46, nos. 23-24.
* Statler, Oliver: Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn. Rutland & Tokyo: Tuttle, 1956, pp. 35-44, nos. 15-21.
Hiratsuka Unichi (????, 1895 – 1997), born in Matsue in Honshu, was one of the prominent leaders of the sosaku hanga movement in 20th Century Japan. Hiratsuka was the best–trained woodcarver in the sosaku hanga movement. From 1928 onwards, he taught the renowned sosaku hanga artist Munakata Shiko (1903-1975) wood carving. Between 1935 and 1944 Hiratsuka taught the first blockprinting course at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. He moved to Washington D.C. in 1962, and spent thirty three years in the United States. While living in Washington DC, he was commissioned by three standing Presidents to carve woodblock prints of National Landmarks, which included The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument and The Library of Congress which are in the collections of The National Gallery and Freer Gallery today. He ultimately returned to Japan in 1994. Hiratsuka was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1970. In 1991, the Hiratsuka Unichi Print Museum was opened in Suzaka, Nagano Prefecture.
Hiratsuka's father was a shrine carpenter, and his grandfather was an architect who designed houses and temples. Therefore the artist was introduced to wood-working and architecture early in his life. Many of his woodblock prints are of temples, bridges, in addition to landscapes he captured in his travels throughout Japan, Korea, and the United States. Hiratsuka was also a serious collector of old Buddhist prints, and his works are influenced by his exposure to Buddhist figures. He also had an extensive collection of roof tiles, Judaica and Bibles in every language, and when he was not practicing his art, spent hours reading. Hiratsuka's techniques and styles evolved over his lifetime. Pre-WWII blocks included many color woodblock prints and engravings, while after WWII, he worked almost exclusively on black-and-white prints. His most famous technique is called tsukibori ("poking strokes"). With a small square-end chisel (aisuki), Hiratsuka rocked the blade side to side in short strokes, producing rough and jagged edges. His family has a website: www.unichihiratsuka.com
[edit] Reference and further reading
Merritt, H., et al. Hiratsuka: Modern Master. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
Ricardo Marcenaro
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My blogs are an open house to all cultures, religions and countries. Be a follower if you like it, with this action you are building a new culture of tolerance, open mind and heart for peace, love and human respect.
Thanks :)
Mis blogs son una casa abierta a todas las culturas, religiones y países. Se un seguidor si quieres, con esta acción usted está construyendo una nueva cultura de la tolerancia, la mente y el corazón abiertos para la paz, el amor y el respeto humano.
Gracias :)
Sculptures – Esculturas
http://ricardomarcenaro.ning.com/
Ricardo M Marcenaro - Facebook
Blogs in operation of The Solitary Dog:
Solitary Dog Sculptor:
http://byricardomarcenaro.blogspot.com
Solitary Dog Sculptor I:
http://byricardomarcenaroi.blogspot.com
Para:
comunicarse conmigo,
enviar materiales para publicar,
propuestas comerciales:
marcenaroescultor@gmail.com
For:
contact me,
submit materials for publication,
commercial proposals:
marcenaroescultor@gmail.com
Diario La Nación
Argentina
Cuenta Comentarista en el Foro:
Capiscum
My blogs are an open house to all cultures, religions and countries. Be a follower if you like it, with this action you are building a new culture of tolerance, open mind and heart for peace, love and human respect.
Thanks :)
Mis blogs son una casa abierta a todas las culturas, religiones y países. Se un seguidor si quieres, con esta acción usted está construyendo una nueva cultura de la tolerancia, la mente y el corazón abiertos para la paz, el amor y el respeto humano.
Gracias :)
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