Shiko 'Shikou' Munakata Signed Japanese Mingei Woodblock Print Hirosaki Castle

A wonderful Mingei woodblock print featuring the Buddha or Bodhisattva by famed Japanese master Showa era printer/ artist Shiko Munakata who is regarded by many as one of the most si...

An exceptionally rare, wonderfully designed Chawan tea bowl by famed Japanese master woodblock printmaker/ artist Shiko Munakata (1903-1975) who is widely considered to be the most important Japanese visual artist of the 20th century and the Pablo Picasso of Japan. This hand-painted work clearly illustrates Munakata's whimsical side as it is of a Koma - a child's spinning top toy. Very few examples of Munakata's work in ceramics exist still today. The work is signed by Munakata on the base as well as the original wood protective storage box (his seal can also be seen faintly in the lower-left corner). The bowl has a small kintsugi or "golden joinery" repair - the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold - on the inside. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. Munakata who is often compared to Picasso was primarily associated with and a principal figure in both the Sosaku-Hanga (which stressed the artist as the sole creator ) and the Mingei (folk art) movements. His many accolades and awards include the "Prize of Excellence" at the Second International Print Exhibition in Lugano, Switzerland in 1952, and first prize at the São Paulo Bienal Exhibition in Brazil in 1955, followed by the Grand Prix Award at the Venice Biennale in 1956, and the Order of Cultural Merit, the highest honor in the arts by the Japanese government in 1970. In 1960 after returning from a year abroad exhibiting his work in the United States, the Horinji Temple in Kyoto bestowed upon him the honorary rank of “Hokkyo”. In 1962, he received the rank of “Hogan” from Nisseki Temple in Toyama prefecture. He also received a Medal of Honor in 1963 and the Asahi Shimbun culture prize in 1965. Munakata's work can be found in numerous international collections and museums including: The Britsih Museum, UK The Chicago Art Institute Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), NY The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), NY The Philadelphia Museum of Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), Washington DC Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis And his own museum The Munakata Shiko...

A truly wonderful, original woodblock print by Japanese Sosaku-Hanga artist Toshi Yoshida, son of famed master printmaker/artist Hiroshi Yoshida. This work is titled "Castle at Hime...

A beautifully and serenely composed woodblock print by famed Japanese printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most important, contem...

A beautifully and serenely composed woodblock print by famed Japanese printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most important, contem...

A beautifully and serenely composed woodblock print by famed Japanese printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most important, contem...

A Japanese woodblock print by Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), entitled "Toshogu Shrine", The vertical oban format print was made in Showa 12th year (1937). On the left margin in grey in...

A Japanese woodblock print by Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), entitled "Kagurazaka Dori" in Oban format and dated to 1929. From the Twelve Views of Tokyo series - Kagurazaka Street at N...

The painting presents a very old and traditional Japanese belt with hidden space to store small things such as pills, rings, and jewelry. Tanaka Shutei(1810 ~ 1858) Tanka was a ...

Okumura Masanobu (????) (artist late 1680s - early 1760s) Signed: Hogetsudo shomei Okumura Bunkaku Masanobu shohitsu ????????????? Artist's seal: Tanchosai ABOUT THE ARTIST Okumura Masanobu (????) (artist late 1680s - early 1760s) ALTERNATE NAMES: Baio (go - ??) Bunkaku (go - ??) Chikatai (family name) Gempachi (nickname - ??) Genroku (nickname - ??) Hogetsudo (go - ???) Masanobu (go - ??) Shidoken (go - ???) Tanchosai (go - ???) Okumura Shinmyo (family name - ????) BIOGRAPHY: Common name: Genpachi (Genpachiro); go Shinmyo (from 1707), Baio (from 1707), Hogetsudo (from Genbun era, 1736-41), Tanchosai and Bunkaku (both from Enkyo era [?], 1744-8). Ukiyo-e painter, print artist and innovative print publisher, also author and illustrator early in his career. Studied haikai poetry under Tachiba (Shogetsudo) Fukaku (Sen'o, 1662-1753). Said to have been influenced by the work of Moronobu. and Kiyonobu., and his earliest dated work is a copy of Kiyonobu I's Illustrated Book of Courtesans of 1700. published by Kurihara Choemon in the eighth month of 170a. From 1703 to 1711 he designed illustrations for at least 22 ukiyo-zoshi novels and puppet theatre playbooks, notably three works also written by him that parodied Tale of Genji. In the Hoei and Shotoku eras (1704-16) Masanobu designed o-oban prints of beautiful women, horizontal oban sumizuri-e 'parody pictures' (mitat-e) and actor prints...

Japanese Woodblock Print by Keisai Eisen ?? ?? (1790~1848), original and unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Keisai Eisen (?? ??, 1790–1848) was a Japanese u...

Japanese Woodblock Print by Eizan Kikugawa,???? (1787~1867) ABOUT THE ARTIST A native of Edo, Eizan Kikugawa was born as Toshinobu Omiya in 1787. He began his artistic career s...