The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints

Ay-O at his 2012, 81st birthday party wearing his signature...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 13:20:01 -0500

Ay-O at his 2012, 81st birthday party wearing his signature hat.

“There is no doubt that one of the true aims of art is humor…” - Ay-O

Known as the “Rainbow Man” the artist Ay-O is going strong at the age of 81. Installation and performance art, painting, sculpture and prints are all part of his oeuvre. Residing for many years in New York, he was an active member of the international Fluxus anti-art movement which included avant-garde musicians, poets, composers, writers and artists. Drawn to print making in the late 1950s, it was in 1964 that he began producing his signature rainbow prints, made famous at the 1966 Venice Biennale. His subsequent work has been called “a continuing celebration of the rainbow.”

Sumo Wrestling by Ay-O, 1984 This is a striking silkscreen print...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 13:04:00 -0500

Sumo Wrestling

by Ay-O, 1984

This is a striking silkscreen print by Ay-o (b. 1931), the adopted name of a painter and printmaker based in Tokyo and well-known internationally.

The two outsize bodies are squeezed into the space, giving it energy and drama. By reducing virtually all detail to outline, the artist is able to focus our attention on the tensed toes and leg muscles, the wrestlers’ arms grasping and attempting to push each other over, and the fringe and giant bow of their belts. This image is based on a woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864), and as a tribute his signature is included in the bottom right-hand corner.

Heart Sutra by Ay-O, 1981 Ay-O (b. 1931) has immersed the...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 13:02:00 -0500

Heart Sutra

by Ay-O, 1981

Ay-O (b. 1931) has immersed the “Heart Sutra” in seven colors of squares. At the bottom of the print the mantra
掲諦掲諦波羅掲諦羅僧掲諦菩提莎婆呵 (gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!) is written.

“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form,” insists the Heart Sutra, the most popular Buddhist scripture and emptiness, or “nothingness,” was a major theme for the Daoist and Zen-influenced Fluxus artists (such as Ay-O), permeating their work.

Rainbow night 8 by Ay-O, 1971 Ay-O (b. 1931 and still going...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 12:58:00 -0500

Rainbow night 8

by Ay-O, 1971

Ay-O (b. 1931 and still going strong at the age of 81) has made a number of variously titled prints, paintings and sculptures showing anatomically correct male and female figures. In this artist’s proof, a vibration of color links the two figures.

what kind of paper/canvas was used for Sekino's "Oregon Cascade range" ?

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:31:06 -0400

Hi,

The work you’re referring to is a woodblock print, so the media is paper. Unfortunately, I do not know what type of paper Sekino used for this print but it may be “torinoko” which he used on other prints.

This print also may be mis-titled. It may actually be titled “Kayano Kogen” (Kayano Highlands) which would make it a Japanese scene rather than one of the Oregon Cascade Range.

tsmskimonoyokubo: Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 01:14:57 -0400

tsmskimonoyokubo:

Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up Camp at Yingkou (Eikô no genkan o okashite waga gun roei o haru no zu 冒営口厳寒我軍張露営之図)

Soldiers and medical personnel are depicted gathered around campfires outside the tents of a Red Cross field hospital, anticipating the arrival of the wounded, in an 1895 print by Kobayashi Kiyochika, Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up Camp at Yingkou.

Adachi Ginko (active 1874 – 1897)Jitsugetsusei kyōwa seidan...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 13:43:29 -0400

Adachi Ginko (active 1874 – 1897)
Jitsugetsusei kyōwa seidan (Disquisition on the political affair of the Kyōwa era)
October 8, 1878 (Meiji 11)

The actors (right to left), Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, Onoe Kikugorō V, Nakamura Nakazō III and Iwai Hanshirō VIII portraying characters in the play Jitsugetsu Seikyowa Seidan written in 1876 by Kawatake Mokuami (1816–1893). The play is based on the Kyōwa era (1801- 1804) incident known as the Enmeiin Affair, in which Nichido “an actor-turned-priest used a secret chamber at the Nichiren temple Enmeiin to seduce a number of leading ladies from the shogun’s house.”

“Nichido was first an actor but became the superior of Enmeiin, a temple of the Nichiren sect in Yanaka, and, with the aid of the priestling Ryuzen, enticed women thither, making the place a den of immorality, visited even by ladies-in-waiting at the Court. That priests should break their vows of chastity was so common that no one gave it a second thought, but when we have a man who turned priest from actor and alluring women to his temple for immoral purposes, it throws a glaring light on the moral degradation of the age.”

Nichido was later executed “as much on account of the links with the shogun’s household as of his moral shortcoming.”

For those of you who have read David Mitchell’s 2011 novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, you will recall the debauched character Abbot Enomoto and the terrible acts committed by his “engifters” on the women held captive at the “House of Sisters.” It occurs to me that the character Abbot Enomoto and the debauchery at his temple, are derived from the above historical incident.

Sumio Kawakami 川上澄生 (1895-1972) Collar, Military Decorations,...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:48:20 -0400

Kawakami Sumio c. 1950

Sumio Kawakami 川上澄生 (1895-1972) Collar, Military Decorations, Mask, Hat (eri, kunshō, kamen, bōshi)

A school teacher who made prints in his spare time, Kawakami lived for over 30 years in a small provincial city several hours north of Tokyo. His career followed a highly individual path from the start. After graduating from college, he spent a year in the United States, supporting himself with odd jobs that included house painting in Seattle and a stint in a fish cannery in Alaska. Shortly after returning to Japan he accepted the teaching position he held for most of the remainder of his life. Though he exhibited with the Japan Creative Society in the early twenties, he knew relatively few of the print artists and was never much influenced by them.

Kawakami was fascinated by the amusing encounters and bizarre misunderstanding that had occurred when the first foreigners arrived in Japan, and this interest is reflected in a great many of his prints. He was a collector of old books – particularly books in English or other foreign languages – and of antique tobacco pipes; and his interest in these also provided him with a rich source of subject matter

Adachi Ginko (active 1874 – 1897) Waki kyogen ワキ狂言 (Auspicious...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:13:53 -0400

Adachi Ginko (active 1874 – 1897) Waki kyogen ワキ狂言 (Auspicious plays) from the series Annual Events of the Edo Theatre (O-Edo shibai nenju-gyoji 大江戸しばゐねんぢうぎやうじ)

ワキ狂言　三座とも三番叟の次ぎに脇狂言を演ず一番太鼓に夜明けを告げワキ狂言に日出を拝すと云ふ位にて舞臺まだ闇く人の顔も碌々見へず今其次第を云ハゞ中村座ハ大江山にて頼光の鬼退治市村座ハ七福神の舞守田座ハ甲子待に福の神の来ると云ふ何れも古雅なるものなり出勤の役者ハ稲荷町の下廻り囃子方ハ三枚目より見習迄の内之？を勤む大体なる芝居好きも此ワキ狂言ハ悉く見る者稀なりとぞ　千秋亭? 記

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) copy of Lacoon struggling with the...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:52:00 -0400

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) copy of Lacoon struggling with the serpents appearing in Gyosai Gadan modeled after the marble sculpture Lacoon and His Two Sons in the Musei Vaticani, Rome. (The sculpture may date anywhere from the second century B.C. to the first century A.D.)

Ichikawa Sanshō as a Moxa Peddler, 1926 by Natori Shunsen (1886...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:31:00 -0500

Ichikawa Sanshō as a Moxa Peddler, 1926 by Natori Shunsen (1886 - 1960)

Rei Yuki 由木礼 (1928-2003) Spleen, 1965 Rei’s prints have...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:28:02 -0500

Rei Yuki 由木礼 (1928-2003) Spleen, 1965

Rei’s prints have been described as “delicate fantasies, scenes of landscape that can exist only in the imagination.”

The texture of the woodblock itself creates dappled tones and fragile shades. The works are light, yet the source of the light is hidden behind fences and arches. It is a light defined by shadows, creating a mood of timeless suspension.

Face (男) [Face (male)], 1981 by Kinoshita Tomio (1923 - c....

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:46:30 -0500

Face (男) [Face (male)], 1981 by Kinoshita Tomio (1923 - c. 2011)

…I am trying to express the sufferings of society, of man, of mankind, of all living beings. I am not too certain of my results: perhaps in the end I have produced mere ‘prints.’ - Kinoshita Tomio

Works of Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934)

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:14:00 -0500

Works of Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934)

What to do when you run out of wall space. Meiji era triptychs.

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:13:00 -0500

What to do when you run out of wall space. Meiji era triptychs.

Penelope Moore, granddaughter of Hiratsuka Un’ichi,...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:31:12 -0500

Penelope Moore, granddaughter of Hiratsuka Un’ichi, commenting on this print wrote “This was a carousel horse outside a party goods store on Wisconsin Ave and Van Ness St.” Further elaborating, Penelope remembered being with him when he sketched this print in their Washington, D.C. neighborhood: “Occasionally, when he was in a patient mood, he took my sister or me, and brought a collapsable 3-legged stool, easel, and either canvasses or sketchpads…. Sidwell Friends, Sullivan Toys, the Zebra Room, G.C. Murphy, Giant Foods, the Savings and Loan Bank which was recently a Starbucks, the Johnson Flower Shop… all of these were part of our weekly hauntings. My mother used to buy flowers at Johnson’s for classes or for my grandfather to draw. There was a small old farmhouse next to the Flower Center, right across from the deep dish Chicago Pizzaria - This was a small shop that sold party goods, and given the absence of a sign or any palpable activity, I don’t think they did much business. An old carousel horse on the porch had caught Ojichan’s eye, and over a period of several hours, he sketched it with gusto and it became one of my favorite woodblocks.”

jwstudio:

Hiratsuka Unichi 平塚運一 (1895-1997).

(via Unichi Hiratsuka, Sosaku-Hanga Master)

Hatsuyama Shigeru 初山滋　(1897-1973) Primarily known as an...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:35:00 -0500

Woodblock Print, children's meal c.1950s

Hatsuyama Shigeru (undated photo)

Hatsuyama Shigeru 初山滋　(1897-1973)

Primarily known as an illustrator of children’s books, Hatsuyama was also a successful sosaku hanga artist.

The charm and whimsy apparent in so many of Hatsuyama’s prints clearly relate to his work as a children’s illustrator. His use of color, which is quite distinctive, may well relate to his early experiences in a dye shop. One color which is almost a hallmark of his prints is the blue called ai, a vegetable pigment made from the plant of the same name.

Photo

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:11:35 -0500

“The concept of my works is represented by a kind of the...

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:42:00 -0500

Red Horizon (A), 1975

Red Memory, 1989

Red Shadow 82-5, 1982

“The concept of my works is represented by a kind of the life force. I am searching for my outlook on the universe, particularly by regarding the clarification of colors and speed.” - Kusaka Kenji 日下賢二 (b. 1936)

Tajima Hiroyuki 田嶋宏行 (1911-1984) “Every Tajima work seems...

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:56:00 -0500

Tajima Hiroyuki, Saint 1970

Saint, Detail

Tajima Hiroyuki, Small Red Wall A 1972

Small Red Wall A, Detail

Tajima Hiroyuki 田嶋宏行 (1911-1984)

“Every Tajima work seems to glow from behind, as though it incorporated a fluorescent light shielded by a mysteriously textured fabric. … Tajima’s technique consists of brushing intensely colored dyes over a dark-colored medium, imparting luminosity to the white areas while enriching the basic colors of the print. The textured areas fade off into dark planes, seeming to float on a cool liquid. Thus the fascinating, bubbly shapes are set off by simple, relaxing ground forms. In this end, this rare combination of intricacy and confident simplicity makes Tajima’s work both exciting and reassuring.”

The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints

Ay-O at his 2012, 81st birthday party wearing his signature...

Sumo Wrestling by Ay-O, 1984 This is a striking silkscreen print...

Sumo Wrestling

by Ay-O, 1984

Heart Sutra by Ay-O, 1981 Ay-O (b. 1931) has immersed the...

Heart Sutra

by Ay-O, 1981

Rainbow night 8 by Ay-O, 1971 Ay-O (b. 1931 and still going...

Rainbow night 8

by Ay-O, 1971

what kind of paper/canvas was used for Sekino's "Oregon Cascade range" ?

tsmskimonoyokubo: Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up...

Adachi Ginko (active 1874 – 1897)Jitsugetsusei kyōwa seidan...

Sumio Kawakami 川上澄生 (1895-1972) Collar, Military Decorations,...

Adachi Ginko (active 1874 – 1897) Waki kyogen ワキ狂言 (Auspicious...

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) copy of Lacoon struggling with the...

Ichikawa Sanshō as a Moxa Peddler, 1926 by Natori Shunsen (1886...

Rei Yuki 由木礼 (1928-2003) Spleen, 1965 Rei’s prints have...

Face (男) [Face (male)], 1981 by Kinoshita Tomio (1923 - c....

Works of Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934)

What to do when you run out of wall space. Meiji era triptychs.

Penelope Moore, granddaughter of Hiratsuka Un’ichi,...

Hiratsuka Unichi 平塚運一 (1895-1997).

Hatsuyama Shigeru 初山滋 (1897-1973) Primarily known as an...

Photo

“The concept of my works is represented by a kind of the...

Tajima Hiroyuki 田嶋宏行 (1911-1984) “Every Tajima work seems...

Hatsuyama Shigeru 初山滋　(1897-1973) Primarily known as an...