Modern Japanese Prints from the Permanent Collection

TERAOKA, Masami (b. 1936), McDonald's Hamburger Invading Japan: Chochin-me, 1981-82, screen-print on white wove paper, Harriet B. Bancroft Fund, 1987.98

Through January 23, 2005

A selection of Japanese prints dating from 1950 to the present complements the exhibition Japanese Masters of Mezzotint. This display features artists continuing the “creative print” (sosaku-hanga) movement that originated in 1904. Unlike collaborative woodblock printmaking used for mass-producing traditional ukiyo-e prints, catalytic artists such Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955), Munakata Shiko (1903-1975) and their students (including Sekino, Saito and Sasajima), printed their own works and sought inspiration from Western artistic trends and native folk and Buddhist art. Their commitment to personal self-expression paved the way for the innovative abstract woodblock prints of Yamaguchi Gen, Tajima Hiroyuki, and Hagiwara Hideo, and the Bible-inspired stencil prints of Watanabe Sadao. Contemporary artists have also adopted western lithography, mezzotint, etching, and silkscreen techniques. Many works of international appeal, such as those by Shinoda Toko, Nakazawa Shin'ichi and Teraoka Masami do however remain Japanese in sentiment and in their use of gold leaf, calligraphic elements and/or subject matter.

Select Images from the Exhibition