ONCHI Kôshirô
(Japan 1891–1955)
- Title
- Lyric I
- Alternative title:
- Jojô I
- Place of origin
-
Japan
- Period
- Taishô period 1912 - 1926 → Japan
- Year
- 1914
- Media category
- Materials used
- woodcut
- Dimensions
-
13.2 x 10.9cm image; 13.4 x 11.1cm support
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Yasuko Myer Bequest Fund 2000
- Accession number
- 82.2000
- Copyright
- © Estate of ONCHI Kôshirô
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
'Lyric I' is one of the representative works by Onchi, the most significant 'creative print' (as opposed to reproductive print) artist and the mentor of the Creative Print movement during the first half of the 20th century in Japan.
'Lyric I' is one of his earliest works and was first published in the first issue of 'Tsukuhae', a magazine of prints and poetry which Onchi published with Tanaka Kyôkichi and Fujimori Shizuo. The magazine ended after no.7 due to Tanaka's death in 1915.
Throughout his working life, Onchi produced many works entitled 'Lyric'. In these works he explored the characteristics of woodcut searching for a union of poetry and visual art. This work is the first of the series of his lifelong pursuit; at the same time it is one of the most significant expressions of the urban sentiment among young artists of the fast-developing modern Japan in the 1910s.
REFERENCES:
FUJII Hisae (ed). 1976. 'Kindai-no Bijutsu: 35 Onchi Kôshirô-to' Tsukuhae, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Tokyo, pg.27 (illus. no. 27).
Helen Merritt. 1990. 'Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: the early years'. University of Hawaii Press, pg.184 (illus).
TANAKA Seikô. 1990. 'Tsukuhae-no gaka tachi: Tanaka Kyôkichi Onchi Kôshirô-no seishun'. Chikuma Shobô, Tokyo, pg.143 (illus. no. 29).
Chiba City Museum of Art. 1999. 'Nihon-no Hanga II 1911-1920: a banquet of carved 'individuals'', Chiba, pg.63 (cat. no. 105).
Shibuya-ku Shôtô Museum of Art. 1999. 'Sôsaku Hanga-no Tanjô: artists who carved the modern times', Tokyo, pg.125 (cat. no. 252).
The Yokohama Museum of Art, the Miyagi Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama (eds). 1994. 'Onchi Koshiro: a poet of colours and forms'. Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, p.51 (colour illus. cat. no. 31).
Asian Art Dept., AGNSW, April 2000.
- Bibliography (9)
-
Kindai-no Bijutsu: Onchi Kôshirô-to Tsukuhae 1976, 1976, 27 (illus.). illus.no. 27
Yokohama Museum of Art (Editor), The Miyagi Museum of Art (Editor), The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama (Editor), Onchi Koshiro: a poet of colours and forms, Japan, 1994, 51 (colour illus.). cat.no. 31
Helen Merritt (Author), Modern Japanese woodblock prints, Honolulu, 1990, 184 (illus.). In this publication this work is titled 'Lyrique 1'.
NISHIYAMA Junko (Japan) (Editor), Nihon no hanga II 1911- 1920: Kizamareta "ko" no kyôen, Tokyo, 1999, 63 (colour illus.). cat.no.105
Shôto Museum of Art (Japan) (Editor), Sôsaku hanga no tanjô: Kindai o kizanda sakka-tachi, Tokyo, 1999, 125 (colour illus.). cat.no.252
TANAKA Seikô (Japan) (Author), Tsukuhae no gaka-tachi: Tanaka Kyôkichi, Onchi Kôshirô no seishun, Tokyo, 1990, 143 (illus.). illus.no.29
AJIOKA Chiaki (Japan) (Curator), Hanga: Japanese creative prints, Sydney, 2000, 5 (colour illus.), 23-39, 103, 107. cat.no. 2.8
'Individuality in early 20th century works on paper', The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales 2003, 2003, 281 (colour illus.).
AJIOKA Chiaki (Japan) (Author), Connie Tornatore-Loong (Australia) (Author), Japan in Sydney: Professor Sadler & modernism, 1920-30s, Sydney, 2011, 106-111, 106 (illus.), 142. cat.no. 99
- Exhibition history (2)
-
Hanga: Japanese creative prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 28 Oct 2000–07 Jan 2001.
Professor Sadler, Japan and Australian modernism, University Art Gallery, University of Sydney, 03 Apr 2011–24 Jul 2011.
