The Magnifying Glass from Tanizaki Junichiro’s The Key by Shiko Munakata
£165.00
“In 1956 the famous writer Tanizaki Jun’ichiro (1886-1965) asked his longtime friend Munakata to provide illustrations to accompany his forthcoming novel, Kagi (The Key), which was serialized in the literary magazine, Chuo koron. Munakata designed fifty-four prints that were produced in the order in which they appeared in the publication. The novel was a highly charged and somewhat dark exploration of relationships, presented as parallel diaries of a middle-aged husband and his younger wife, Ikuko, who he encourages to have an affair in order to stimulate his waning sexual desires.
The designs for the series captured the erotic tension of the novel, with cropped figures and fragmented scenes that complimented the dueling perspectives and passions of the husband and wife. This print is one of the most recognisable designs from the series, the striking Ikuko okubi-e (‘big head’) portrait, returning our gaze which according to the Munakata museum inspired him to design many more (now highly sought-after) okubi-e portraits of beauties.” 1
An exquisite lithograph produced on a very textural Japanese ‘washi’ paper, published byYaskawa as part of their collaborative calendar project.
Shiko Munakata (1903-1975) was a Japanese artist, world-renowned for his woodblock prints and his role in popularising both the shin-hanga and mingei movements in the West. Munakata’s distinctive and harsh take on print making gained worldwide attention in the mid 20th Century: in the Eastern World, this was a result of his departure from more traditional production techniques whilst still maintaining the cultural subject matter of Buddha, flowers and similar everyday imagery. Whereas in the West, the prints were produced in a style not too dissimilar from the European abstract and modernist artists, which in turn gained Munakata the nickname of ‘Japanese Picasso.’ One can easily see the similarties between the two artists.
An interesting observation is noticing that Picasso and his French peers were influenced by the work of the earlier Japanese printmakers, notably Hokusai, which in turn influenced Munakata; the influence really travelled full circle within artistic circles in the 19th and 20thcenturies.
The Magnifying Glass from Tanizaki Junichiro’s The Key by Shiko Munakata
£165.00
“In 1956 the famous writer Tanizaki Jun’ichiro (1886-1965) asked his longtime friend Munakata to provide illustrations to accompany his forthcoming novel, Kagi (The Key), which was serialized in the literary magazine, Chuo koron. Munakata designed fifty-four prints that were produced in the order in which they appeared in the publication. The novel was a highly charged and somewhat dark exploration of relationships, presented as parallel diaries of a middle-aged husband and his younger wife, Ikuko, who he encourages to have an affair in order to stimulate his waning sexual desires.
The designs for the series captured the erotic tension of the novel, with cropped figures and fragmented scenes that complimented the dueling perspectives and passions of the husband and wife. This print is one of the most recognisable designs from the series, the striking Ikuko okubi-e (‘big head’) portrait, returning our gaze which according to the Munakata museum inspired him to design many more (now highly sought-after) okubi-e portraits of beauties.” 1
An exquisite lithograph produced on a very textural Japanese ‘washi’ paper, published by Yaskawa as part of their collaborative calendar project.
Dimensions: TBC
Original Printing Date: 1956
Medium: Offset Lithograph
In stock
Description
Shikō Munakata 棟方 志功
Shiko Munakata (1903-1975) was a Japanese artist, world-renowned for his woodblock prints and his role in popularising both the shin-hanga and mingei movements in the West. Munakata’s distinctive and harsh take on print making gained worldwide attention in the mid 20th Century: in the Eastern World, this was a result of his departure from more traditional production techniques whilst still maintaining the cultural subject matter of Buddha, flowers and similar everyday imagery. Whereas in the West, the prints were produced in a style not too dissimilar from the European abstract and modernist artists, which in turn gained Munakata the nickname of ‘Japanese Picasso.’ One can easily see the similarties between the two artists.
An interesting observation is noticing that Picasso and his French peers were influenced by the work of the earlier Japanese printmakers, notably Hokusai, which in turn influenced Munakata; the influence really travelled full circle within artistic circles in the 19th and 20thcenturies.
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