Woman of Brittany

Catalog note / 解説

This print is considered to be one of the most important sösaku-hanga (creative prints). Yamamoto studied oil painting in Europe from 1912 to 1916. While in Europe, the artist was inspired to use woodblocks in a different creative way. During this time, he also designed most of the major prints of his career, such as this one. Strictly speaking, Yamamoto’s prints were not the first creative prints in Japan. Creative etchings existed during the Edo period (1615-1868), and creative lithographs were made at the end of the 19th century. However, etching and lithography were viewed as artistic techniques, whereas the traditional woodblock print had always been exclusively regarded as a form of p…