Sekino Jun'ichiro (Japanese, 1914-1988), Kyoto at Twilight

Dated 1969, woodblock print, large print with a bird's eye view of traditional Japanese rooftops in Kyoto at twilight, with a red artist seal together with artist signature in white to lower right corner of image, pencil signed to lower margin with edition number ep d'artiste (artist's proof), title in Japanese, and date 1969, presented under glass with mat in a black frame.

40 1/2 x 28 1/2 in., SS 33 x 21 1/2 in.

Jun'ichiro Sekino was a Japanese printmaker best known for his portraits of kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, and geishas. His woodblock prints were completed in a style that merged both Western and Japanese aesthetics. The artist went on to study under Koshiro Onchi, the founder of the sosaku-hanga movement, which encouraged self-expression in artists. It was with Onchi in Tokyo where Sekino learned Japanese woodblock printing, Western-style etching, and painting. He won the Teiten Prize for etching in 1936, became a member of the Nihon Hanga Kyokai (Japan Print Association), and began teaching at Kobe University in Japan in 1965. Sekino died in 1988 in Tokyo, Japan. His works are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.

The prints on offer here by Sekino show a rare side of the artist as he looks at traditional Japanese landscapes and interprets them in abstract manner with vivacious colors.

Very good condition; some light scattered foxing in lower margin.