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

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.

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.