Episode Details

During the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, being at home with my thoughts, I kept busy by researching mokuhanga. And one of my many discoveries was the exhibition at the Portland Art Museum held from September 24, 2020, to June 13, 2021, called Joryū Hanga Kyøkai, 1956-1965: Japan's Women Printmakers and curated by The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art, Jeannie Kenmotsu. It was an exhibition of mokuhanga, etchings, and lithography of a group of printmakers I didn't know much about. Individually I may have heard their names but as a group? I needed to learn more. History is an essential part of mokuhanga; to search out those printmakers who have come before us to understand what they did and how they did it. I have learned so much from the past that I can use it in my own work for my present and future. On this episode of The Unfinished Print, I speak with Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., about the Joryu Hanga Kyokai and, the road to this exhibition, the work that went behind it. We explore how the Joryu Hanga Kyokai showed a different face of printmaking in Japan. We discuss Tokyo during the 1950s and 1960s, the mokuhanga and print culture of the time, internationalism, and how this exhibition could catalyze more research on this incredible group.

Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com

Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase.

Artists works follow after the note. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted. Dimensions are given if known.

Joryū Hanga Kyōkai, 1956-1965: Japan's Women Printmakers - was an exhibition curated by Jeannie Kenmotsu from September 24, 2020 - June 13, 2021, at the Portland Art Museum. It is the first step in understanding and education on the subject of women in Japanese printmaking in modern Japan. Members of the group were

Romanesque Architecture - is a style developed in the north of Italy, parts of France, and the Iberian Peninsula in the 10th century. Evolving from thick walls, no sculpture, and ornamental arches into towering round arches, massive stone and brickwork, small windows, thick walls, and an inclination for housing art and sculpture of biblical scenes. For more information abbot Romanesquwe architecture you can find that, here.

Portland Art Museum - established in 1892, the PAM has established itself as one of the preeminent art musuems on the West coast of the United States. The musuem has 40,000 pieces of art and art objects. More information about PAM can be found here.

The Royal Ontario Museum - also known as The ROM, is an art, world culture, and natural history museum in the city of Toronto, and is one of the oldest museums in the city. More info, here.

mokuhanga in the 1950's and 1960's - Japanese woodblock printmaking became quite popular after World War II. With Japan growing exponentially post war, through industry and art, the independent philosphy that the West perpetuated began to filter into the Jpaanese art world. Sōsaku hanga became increadingly popular where there is only one carver, printer and draughtsman. These prints touched on various themes, but especially in the abstract. Artists such as Shigeru Hatsuyama (1897-1973), and Kiyoshi Saitō (1907-1997) spring to mind, who created a new