»Creative Prints« in Chicago

Japanese Woodblock Prints of the 20th Century in »Onchi Kōshirō: Affection for Shapeless Things«

From October 16, 2021 through January 10, 2022, the Art Institute Chicago will devote a special exhibition to artist Onchi Kōshirō, arguably the most prominent exponent of modern Japanese woodblock printing. Kōshirō is representative of the sōsaku hanga-movement which combined Japanese and European traditions of woodblock printing.

October 16, 2021

Shortly after 1900, two new developments shaped woodblock prints in Japan: first, sōsaku hanga (»creative print«), influenced by the European method of production in which a single artist does all the work on a print himself, and second, shin-hanga (»new print«), in which new motifs were produced at the time in the traditional Japanese manner with a draftsman, a carver, and a printer. In the spirit of the European-oriented sōsaku hanga-approach, and thus as an artist acting alone, Onchi Kōshirō contributed mainly to the spread of abstract motifs in Japanese woodblock prints as well as to their international reception.

Recent auction results of Onchi Kōshirō

Onchi Koshiro - Unknown
Auction
Iron and InkPrints and Paintings, featuring Tetsubin from the Crawford Collection
July 2022
Bonhams, New York (Online Auction)
Est.: 800 - 1.200 USD
Realised: not available
Details
Onchi Kōshirō - Unknown
Auction
Iron and InkPrints and Paintings, featuring Tetsubin from the Crawford Collection
July 2022
Bonhams, New York (Online Auction)
Est.: 1.000 - 1.500 USD
Realised: not available
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Showa era (1926-1989), 1955
Auction
Japanese and Korean Art
March 2022
Bonhams, New York
Est.: 2.000 - 3.000 USD
Realised: not available
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Showa era (1926-89), 1955
Auction
Japanese and Korean Art
March 2022
Bonhams, New York
Est.: 1.000 - 1.500 USD
Realised: not available
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Yuagari (After bath)
Auction
Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg
March 2022
Christies, New York
Est.: 15.000 - 25.000 USD
Realised: 18.900 USD
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Showa era (1926-1989), 1943
Auction
Fine Japanese and Korean Art
September 2020
Bonhams, New York
Est.: 2.000 - 3.000 USD
Realised: 1.913 USD
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Showa era (1926-1989), 1946
Auction
Fine Japanese and Korean Art
September 2020
Bonhams, New York
Est.: 1.200 - 1.800 USD
Realised: 893 USD
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Bijin Shiki (Beauty in Each Season)
Auction
Japanese and Korean Art
September 2020
Christies, New York
Est.: 40.000 - 60.000 USD
Realised: 50.000 USD
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Daibingu (Diving)
Auction
Japanese and Korean Art
September 2020
Christies, New York
Est.: 10.000 - 20.000 USD
Realised: 13.750 USD
Details
Onchi Koshiro - Unknown
Auction
JapaneseArt and Design Including Netsuke from the Estate of His Royal Highness The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, KG.,KT.,KP
July 2006
Christies, London
Est.: 300 - 400 GBP
Realised: 2.160 GBP
Details

Kōshirō lived from 1891 to 1955 and at the beginning of his career was also active as a book designer and later as a photographer. He joined the sōsaku hanga-movement for two reasons: the European way of working focused on only one artist so that his or her artistic expression could be fully expressed, and Kōshirō saw woodblock printing as the best way to work in a truly abstract manner. He felt this technique was more independent of an artist's style than drawing, and it required more intense planning in composition.

The Art Institute Chicago exhibits Kōshirō as a central figure of the sōsaku hanga-group. Kōshirō's oeuvre is comparatively small, making this exhibition an amazing rarity that adds an exciting chapter to the view of modernist art.Art.Salon

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