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Sadao Watanabe. Abstract Prints

Japanese, 1913-1998
Sadao Watanabe, born in Tokyo in 1913, used the medium called kappazuri ("stencil printing"), a technique related to 'katazome' ("stencil dyeing"). 'Katazome' is said to have originated in Okinawa (the method there was called 'bingata'). The paper most widely used in Japan for stencil printing is called 'shibugami', made from several layers of 'kozo' paper laminated with persimmon tannin. The sheets are dried and smoke-cured to strengthen them and make them flexible and waterproof. Once the artist makes a drawing, it is fixed to the 'shibugami' with a thin adhesive. The basic pattern is then carved into a "key impression" stencil (the equivalent to the keyblock in woodblock printing) called the 'omogata'. If colors will also be used for the final design, separate stencils are sometimes cut for each color. If the stencil pattern has thin lines they can be reinforced with silk gauze, which still allow for uniform printing of colors. The first stage of the printing process involves the application and drying of a dye-resist paste to cover all the portions of the design to be left unprinted by the design. The patterns and colors can then be brushed over the stencil while affecting only those areas without resist paste. Typically the first colors printed are the lighter areas so that darker colors can be overprinted. After all the colors are printed and dried, the key impression stencil is finally used to print the key design over all the previous colors. The dye resist paste is then washed off (called 'mizumoto', "to wash by water") and the paper is dried on a wood board. Watanabe typically printed on a colored ground, so he would first apply a color to the paper. Watanabe, who was baptized a Christian in 1930, based his designs exclusively on Biblical subjects, though his Christian stories and figures are interpreted through a filter of traditional Japanese techniques and even some older Buddhist figure prints. The folk-art movement in Japan began in the 1930s as an attempt to keep alive various traditional arts, among them stencil printing. Watanabe was an early member of a small but important group of artists who dedicated themselves to learning and preserving these arts. Watanabe's emotioonally moving Biblical prints are have been popular throughout the world, and have been hung in the Vatican, the White House, in museums and in private collections.
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Artist: Sadao Watanabe.
Surreal Composit - Woodcut by Sadao Watanabe - 20th Century
By Sadao Watanabe
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Surreal Composit is an original woodcut, hand colored, on paper realized by Sadao Watanabe for College Women's Association of Japan Student Travel grant fund. Specially woodcut wit...
Category

20th Century Modern Sadao Watanabe. Abstract Prints

Materials

Woodcut

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Sadao Watanabe. abstract prints for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Sadao Watanabe. abstract prints available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Sadao Watanabe. in woodcut print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Sadao Watanabe. abstract prints, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Dennis Ray Beall, Terry Leftrook, and Antonio Recalcati. Sadao Watanabe. abstract prints prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $501 and tops out at $501, while the average work can sell for $501.

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