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MAEKAWA SEMPAN (1888 -1960) |
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Born in Kyoto in 1888. He was first
fascinated with the woodblock prints by |
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Minami Kunzo and this led him into
the world of hanga. In 1919 his work was |
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exhibited in the 1st Exhibition
of the Sosaku-hanga Association. |
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His long quest for Sosaku-hanga,
always marked by the warmth of his sincere |
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personality, was carried on until
he died at the age of 72 in 1960. |
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He is now counted among the three
giants of Sosaku-hanga together with Onchi |
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and Hiratsuka. |
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HIRATSUKA UN'ICHI (1895 -1997) |
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Born in Matsue City in 1895. On
the advice of Ishii Hakutei, his master in the fine |
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arts, he learned the carving techniques
under Igami Bonkotsu, a renowned carver. |
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Hiratsuka himself was later called
a master carver. .In 1921 his work was first |
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exhibited in the 3rd Exhibition
of the Sosaku-hanga Association. |
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Throughout his long career he never
spared any effort to promote this genre of art. |
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He not only worked as a lecturer
at the government academy, Tokyo School of Fine |
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Arts, but he also started lectures
and workshops throughout the country, thus cul- |
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tivating the soil on which grew
many talents. Among them we find Munakata Shiko |
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as well as Azechi Umetaro, Maeda
Masao and Shimozawa Kihachiro..The latter three |
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were called the three outstanding
talents in the Hiratsuka school. |
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Un'ichi's passion for hanga never
waned until his death at the age of 102 in 1997. |
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.KITAOKA FUMIO (1918 -2007 ) |
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1918 |
Kitaoka Fumio was born
in Tokyo in 1918. |
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1939 |
He learned woodblock
printing under Hiratsuka Un'ichi during his student |
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years in Tokyo School
of Fine Arts, and in the same year his work was |
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first admitted entry
for the 8th Exhibition of Japan Hanga Association. |
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1942 |
He joined the 'Kitsutsuki-kai'
group led by Hiratsuka and in 1943 became |
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member of the Hanga
Association. |
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1944 |
He joined the 'Ichimoku-kai'
group whose leader was Onchi Koshiro. |
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1955 |
He went to France and
met Hasegawa Kiyoshi, who became his third great |
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teacher. |
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1964-6 |
During the 1964-65
period, he taught woodblock printing at Minneapolis |
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School of Art and at
New York Brat Graphic Art Center as a Fulbright |
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exchange professor. |
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2007 |
He passed away on April
22 at the age of 89 |
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YAMAGUCHI SUSUMU (1897-1983) |
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1897 |
Born in Ina, Nagano
prefecture in 1897. |
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1912 |
At the age of 15 he
made his first attempt in woodblock printing using |
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his father's worn out
wooden clogs as the blocks. |
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1923 |
His work was first
exhibited in the 5th Exhibition of the Sosaku-hanga |
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Association |
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His mountain prints
have established reputation for their dynamism and |
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profoundness. As for
the theme 'mountain', Azechi and Maeda can perhaps |
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compete with him, while
as for 'soaked-wet printing' , the printing tech- |
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nique of his own devising,
had influence even upon Onchi Koshiro. |
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