About the artist
Rokushu Mizufune was a 20th-century sculptor and woodblock print artist. Born in Kure in Hiroshima prefecture, Mizufune graduated from Tokyo School of Fine Arts with a specialization in sculpture in 1936. However, during his time there he had studied woodblock printmaking on the side with Hiratsuka Unichi (1895-1997). Mizufune immersed himself in the world of printmaking, becoming a founding member of Shin Hanga Shudan in 1932 alongside the prominent Sosaku Hanga artist Ono Tadashige (1909-1990). Following WWII, Mizufune flourished as a sculptor, receiving recognition through state exhibitions while he worked as an art teacher in Yokohama. It was not until 1955 that he began to actively exhibit his woodblock prints. Starting in 1960, he exhibited his works in the Tokyo International Biennales. Between 1961 and 1962, Mizufune spent a year in the United States as an artist-in-residence at the Putney School at Marlboro College in Vermont. Typically, his works are undated. Today, Rokushu Mizufune’s woodblock prints can be found in institutions such as the British Museum, National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Art Institute of Chicago.