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An image of Farmhouse beams and kettle hook hanger by KITAOKA Fumio

KITAOKA Fumio

(Japan 1918–2007)

Title
Farmhouse beams and kettle hook hanger
Alternative title:
Hari to rokagi
Place of origin
Japan
Period
Heisei period 1989 - → Japan
Year
1991
Media category
Print
Materials used
woodcut
Edition
5/30
Dimensions

54.0 x 84.0cm image; 63.0 x 93.0cm sheet; 73.3 x 103.5cm frame

Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r., pencil "Fumio Kitaoka 1991".
Credit
Gift of the artist 1993
Accession number
435.1993
Copyright
© Estate of KITAOKA Fumio
Location
Not on display
Further information

Kitaoka was born in Tokyo and was educated at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music where he studied woodblock printing under Un'ichi Hiratsuka ( 1895-?). He is one of the more senior artists in this exhibition. After the Second World War and a stint in Manchuria he furthered his study under Onchi of the 'sosaku hanga' movement, becoming more interested in an art of pure colour and form. From the 1950s Kitaoka travelled and exhibited extensively.

This print is a fine example of his oeuvre, demonstrating his mastery of the traditional woodblock techniques, and his fine sense of colour and pattern. He created this print after visiting an old farmhouse in Takayama where he was moved by the strength and beauty of the wooden ceiling beams, and taken with the traditional structural beauty of the hanger for the kettle hook ('jizai-gake') which was used to hang the perennial iron pot over the open hearth that was the centre of the Japanese rural home.

Kitaoka takes pleasure in contrasting the geometrical structure of the ascending beams with the roughly hewn curve of the kettle hook.

Jackie Menzies, Contemporary Japanese Prints: The Urban Bonsai, 1992, pg. 57.

Bibliography (1)

Jackie Menzies (Australia) (Author), Contemporary Japanese Prints : The Urban Bonsai, Sydney, 1992, 55 (colour illus.), 57. cat.no. 30

Exhibition history (11)

The Urban Bonsai, Queensland Art Gallery, 04 Mar 1992–04 May 1992.

The Urban Bonsai, National Art Gallery, Wellington, 20 Jun 1992–09 Aug 1992.

The Urban Bonsai, Christchurch Art Gallery, 12 Sep 1992–29 Oct 1992.

The Urban Bonsai, Manawatu Art Gallery, 13 Nov 1992–10 Jan 1993.

The Urban Bonsai, The George Adams Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre, 18 Mar 1993–25 Apr 1993.

The Urban Bonsai, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 May 1993–01 Aug 1993.

The Urban Bonsai, Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery, 11 Mar 1994–24 Apr 1994.

The Urban Bonsai, The Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, 19 May 1994–19 Jun 1994.

The Urban Bonsai, Campbelltown Arts Centre, 15 Jul 1994–21 Aug 1994.

The Urban Bonsai, Moree Plains Gallery, 11 Nov 1994–24 Dec 1994.

The Urban Bonsai, Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, 01 Feb 1995–05 Mar 1995.