Sekino Jun'ichiro (Japanese, 1914-1988), Boy with Rooster

Dated 1957, woodblock print, a large print showing a young boy holding his prized rooster, visually the boy and rooster combine as one face, showing the boy's tenderness and admiration he feels for his pet, with a red artist seal to lower right corner of image together with signature in white pigment by artist, Jun Sekino, in lower margin is the edition number 17/100, and date 1957, presented under glass with mat in a warm brown wood frame.

Frame dimensions 33 1/2 x 25 3/4 in., Sight size 25 3/4 x 19 1/4 in.

Collection of Michael and Ingrid Kelly, Worldwide Gallery Antiques, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Sekino created a more abstract earlier version of this print in 1955, A Boy and His Rooster, featuring his son, Junpei, at age 12. Junpei and his pet rooster two years later served as inspiration for the artist, showing the longevity of the care and relationship.

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.

Overall very good condition; some very minor and light foxing to a few areas; not examined outside of the frame.