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Collection

An image of Man exhaling butterfly by TANINAKA Yasunori

TANINAKA Yasunori

(Japan 1897–1946)

Title
Man exhaling butterfly
Alternative title:
Chô o haku hito
Place of origin
Japan
Period
Shôwa period 1926 - 1988 → Japan
Year
1933
Media category
Print
Materials used
colour woodcut
Dimensions

16.1 x 19.9cm image / sheet

Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
D G Wilson Bequest Fund 1999
Accession number
14.1999
Location
Not on display
Further information

Taninaka is considered one of the most original print artists of modern Japan. Together with Munakata Shikô, Taninaka was the most prominent artist of the Creative Print group called Shiro-to-kuro (White and black). The two share common characteristics: the works of both artists stand out from their contemporaries with their bold and powerful figurative images; they were not overly concerned about technical precision when cutting blocks and printing; and they both lived in extreme poverty in their younger days. However, unlike Munakata who achieved great international success after WWII, Taninaka died of starvation during the postwar food shortage.

Shiro-to-kuro regularly published magazines with original woodcut prints. This print seems to have come from issue no. 41 which was a special issue on Taninaka. It is one of his best known prints.

Taninaka's prints are some of the most important expressions of modern art in Japan. He depicts the complex psyche of the modern man: desire, imagination, alienation and longing for 'lost innocence'. An appealing characteristic of his work, which is a reflection of the intellectual trend of the time, is the ease with which he moves beyond the traditional cultural boundaries by ingesting Western icons to express the complexity of the modern, urban mind, without specific cultural identity. This characteristic sets Taninaka apart from Munakata Shikô whose works tend to seek their modern identity within the local cultural traditions.

Bibliography (7)

AJIOKA, Hanga: Japanese creative prints 2000, '1930s-1950s: Consolidation of Hanga and the individualists', pg. 70-98, Sydney, 2000, 96 (colour illus.), 104, 111. cat.no. 4.24

Chiaki Ajioka, Modern Boy Modern Girl: modernity in Japanese art 1910-1935 1998, 'Hanga - images on the plate', pg. 115-120, Domain, 1998, 119 (colour illus.), 172. cat.no. 103.v

Chiaki Ajioka, The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, 'Creative Print ('Sôsaku-hanga') Magazines', pg. 300-301, Amsterdam, 301 (colour illus.). no. 236

RYÔJI Kumata, Taninaka Yasunori hanga tengoku, Tokyo, 1982, illus.. cat.no. 72

Jackie Menzies (Editor), The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales 2003, 'Individuality in early 20th century works on paper', Domain, 2003, 282 (colour illus.).

Tsutomu MIZUSAWA (Curator), Mobo moga: Nihon bijutsu-no 'kindai' 1910-1935 1998, Kanagawa, 1998, 202 (illus.). cat.no. 357. Note that this is the Japanese publication of the exhibition "Modern Boy, Modern Girl".

Tsutomu MIZUSAWA, Nihon kindai hanga-no ayumi ten 1993, Tokyo, 1993, 85 (colour illus.). cat.no. 166

Exhibition history (4)

Nihon kindai hanga-no ayumi ten:

Modern Boy Modern Girl - modernity in Japanese art 1910-1935:

unknown:

Hanga: Japanese creative prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 Oct 2000–07 Jan 2001