The creative print movement, with its beginnings in early twentieth-century Japan, reacted against the collaborative ukiyo-e printmaking method where three individuals—a draftsman, a carver, and a printer—produced a single print.
Modern Japanese printmakers sought creative freedom and became the sole makers of their woodblock prints. Two styles within the movement, shin hanga (“new prints”) and sosaku hanga (“creative prints”), grew increasingly abstract with the modernization of Japan and the influence of the West. Post-war Japanese artists gained international acclaim with their abstract “creative prints,” particularly at the 1951 São Paulo Biennial. This permanent collection installation presents a selection of sosaku hanga prints created at the height of the movement.
Curator: Kathryn Koca
