About the artist
Susumu Yamaguchi was a modern woodblock printmaker and painter active during the early-to-mid 20th century. Born in Nagano Prefecture, Yamaguchi explored woodblock printmaking as a child, but he began his formal artistic career as a western-style (yoga) painter. Between 1920 and 1922, he studied painting with Kuroda Seiki and at Aoibashi Western Painting Institute in Tokyo. Simultaneously, he pursued his interest in printmaking, contributing woodblock prints to the magazines and exhibitions of the Sosaku Hanga (creative print) movement. In 1928, he became a member of Nihon Sosaku-hanga Kyokai. Yamaguchi turned his focus to printmaking following the acceptance and wide success of 49 of his prints to the Paris exhibition in 1934. While his prints of the 1920s were printed with oil-based inks, he shifted to water-based inks in the following years and exploring the effects of woodgrain and water in his technique. Towards the end of WWII, he was evacuated from Tokyo and returned to his home prefecture. Back home around the mountains, he continued to produce prints while also taking up farming and becoming actively involved in the local art education. Many of his prints take the alpine landscape of his home as their subject. Today, Susumu Yamaguchi’s woodblock prints can be found in the collection of institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and the Art Institute of Chicago.