Onchi Koshiro
Japanese, 1891-1955
Printer: Sekino Jun'ichiro
Japanese, 1914-88
Portrait of the Poet Hagiwara Sakutaro (1886–1942), Author of “Ice Island,” 1943
INV-3213
Onchi Koshiro
Japanese, 1891-1955
Printer: Sekino Jun'ichiro
Japanese, 1914-881943
Portrait of the Poet Hagiwara Sakutaro (1886–1942), Author of “Ice Island,” 1943
Onchi Koshiro Japanese, 1891-1955 Printer: Sekino Jun'ichiro Japanese, 1914-88 →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
1943
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
55.7 × 45.2 cm (21 7/8 × 17 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Oliver Statler
This portrait was done as a tribute to Hagiwara Sakutaro one year after the poet’s death. The dark tones and wrinkled skin of the subject make for a disturbing image, which is in keeping with Hagiwara’s tendency toward depression brought on by the realities of war. This portrait has been hailed as one of the most powerful prints produced by a 20th-century Japanese artist, and several other editions were later printed in 1949 and 1987.
Included on this finished print are Onchi Koshiro’s notes on the printing process to his fellow artist Sekino Junichiro. The additional set of prints shows the steps involved in attaining the completed image that Sekino printed from blocks made by his mentor.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
