Azechi, Umetaro (1902 - 1999 )
Born to farmers in Uwajima, Ehime prefecture, Umetaro Azechi came from humble beginnings. As a young man he secured a job at a government printing company in Tokyo, where he soon developed a curiosity in printmaking. Pursuing his newfound interest, Azechi introduced himself to Unichi Hiratsuka, an established artist of the time, and became a member of the Sosaku Hanga print movement. Overtime, he gained access to exhibitions, met other artists, and honed his own skills, eventually participating in major print biennials in Sao Paulo, Tokyo and Lugano. An avid mountaineer, Umetaro Azechi is best known for his mountain scene prints, which can now be found in the Achenbach Foundation in San Francisco, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and The British Museum in London.
Sosaku Hanga | Post-WWII Japanese Prints
The Sosaku Hanga or “creative print” movement emerged in the changing Japan of the early 20th century. The movement arose from a central tenant: the artist must participate in every aspect of production. As artists shed the traditional delegation of ukiyo-e production and explored each role themselves, the act of printmaking adopted a more spontaneous, expressive attitude. Artists explored with the knife, chisel, woodblock, and ink to push to the boundaries of their medium. Originally excluded from Japan’s formal art world, Sosaku Hanga began on the pages of magazines. It was not until 1919 that the first Sosaku Hanga exhibition opened in Tokyo. Ranging from figural to abstract, the movement flourished after WWII, and found a new, eager audience among American GIs. In this collection, Ronin Gallery presents masters of Sosaku Hanga such as Onchi, Ono, Munakata, Saito, Sekino, and Mori, as well as other post-war Japanese printmakers.
