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Details
- Alternative title
- Chō o haku hito
- Place where the work was made
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Japan
- Period
- Shōwa period 1926 - 1988 → Japan
- Date
- 1933
- Media category
- Materials used
- woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Dimensions
- 16.1 x 19.9 cm
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- D G Wilson Bequest Fund 1999
- Location
- South Building, ground level, Asian Lantern galleries
- Accession number
- 14.1999
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Taninaka Yasunori
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
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.
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Places
Where the work was made
Japan
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Exhibition history
Shown in 6 exhibitions
Nihon kindai hanga-no ayumi ten, Nerrima-ku ritsu bijutsukan, , 30 Oct 1993–05 Dec 1993
Nihon kindai hanga-no ayumi ten, Hokkaidô-ritsu Obihiro Bijutsukan, , 19 Feb 1994–27 Mar 1994
Nihon kindai hanga-no ayumi ten, Ibaragi-ken Tsukuba Bijutsukan, , 09 Apr 1994–08 May 1994
Modern Boy Modern Girl - modernity in Japanese art 1910-1935, Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Kamakura, 17 May 1998–28 Jun 1998
Modern Boy Modern Girl - modernity in Japanese art 1910-1935, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 18 Jul 1998–30 Aug 1998
, Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Kamakura, 17 May 1998–28 Jun 1998
, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Jul 1998–30 Aug 1998
, Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Kamakura, 17 May 1998–28 Jun 1998
, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Jul 1998–30 Aug 1998
Hanga: Japanese creative prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 Oct 2000–07 Jan 2001
Correspondence, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 10 Sep 2022–2024
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Bibliography
Referenced in 8 publications
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AJIOKA, Hanga: Japanese creative prints, '1930s-1950s: Consolidation of Hanga and the individualists', pg. 70-98, Sydney, 2000, 96 (colour illus.), 104, 111. cat.no. 4.24
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Chiaki Ajioka, The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, 'Creative Print ('Sôsaku-hanga') Magazines', pg. 300-301, Amsterdam, 301 (colour illus.). no. 236
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Chiaki Ajioka, Modern Boy Modern Girl: modernity in Japanese art 1910-1935, 'Hanga - images on the plate', pg. 115-120, Sydney, 1998, 119 (colour illus.), 172. cat.no. 103.v
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RYÔJI Kumata, Taninaka Yasunori hanga tengoku, Tokyo, 1982, illus.. cat.no. 72
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Ann Macarthur (Editor), TAASA Review, Sydney, Sep 2000, 25 (colour illus.).
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Jackie Menzies (Editor), The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Individuality in early 20th century works on paper', Sydney, 2003, 282 (colour illus.).
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Tsutomu MIZUSAWA (Curator), Mobo moga: Nihon bijutsu-no 'kindai' 1910-1935, Kanagawa, 1998, 202 (illus.). cat.no. 357. Note that this is the Japanese publication of the exhibition "Modern Boy, Modern Girl".
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Tsutomu MIZUSAWA, Nihon kindai hanga-no ayumi ten, Tokyo, 1993, 85 (colour illus.). cat.no. 166
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Provenance
YOSHITOME Naoteru, Feb 1999, Sydney/New South Wales/Australia, donated to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, February 1999.
