Ichikawa Sumizö as Shirai Gonpachi

Catalog note / 解説

The New Print (Shin Hanga) Movement ‘s greatest advocate was Watanabe Shözaburö (1885-1962), who sought to publish works that represented each artist’s creative vision while utilizing traditionally trained carvers and printers as the artist’s “arms and legs” to produce the highest quality prints. He did not intend to revive the traditional Japanese woodblock print (ukiyo-e). However, he tried to use traditional skills to create a completely new art. Watanabe and shin hanga artists incorporated Western devices of “light and shade” and perspective into traditional subjects such as beautiful women, birds and flowers, landscapes, and actor prints. It should be noted that this movement was stimu…