Hiratsuka Un'ichi

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Hiratsuka Un'ichi ( Japanese 平 塚 運 一 ; born September 17, 1895 in Matsue ; † November 18, 1997 ) was a Japanese wood cutter and representative of the Sōsaku-hanga movement, who expanded the traditional Japanese woodcut in the 20th century.

life and work

Hiratsuka, grandson of an architect, grew up with a feeling for wood and tools. He became interested in painting and graphics at an early age, and although he attended the business school in Matsue, he left without a degree. While working as an employee of the city, he was engaged in watercolor painting. In 1913, Ishii Hakutei , who had just returned from a trip to Europe and visited Matsue, saw his watercolors and encouraged him to pursue an artistic career.

In 1915 Hiratsuka went to Tokyo and studied Western painting under Okada Saburōsuke ( 岡田 三郎 助 ; 1869-1939). Ishii, who knew his interest in woodcuts, recommended Igami Bonkatsu ( 伊 上 凡 骨 ; 1875–1933), who still worked as a classic ukiyoe woodcutter, as a teacher. Hiratsuka showed his first prints in 1916 at the Nika-kai Association .

In the late 1920s, inspired by ancient Buddhist prints, he produced leaves in a bold black and white manner that became typical of him. He became popular with his series of twelve color prints "After the Earthquake" (1925).

Until 1935 he traveled through Japan and taught woodcut art, where he inspired Munakata Shikō , among others . He then taught woodcut at Geidai until 1944 , the first time that something like this was taught there. One of his students is Kitaoka Fumio ( 北 岡 文 雄 ; 1918–2007).

During the Pacific War, Hiratsuka worked in Beijing, traveled around the country and produced views of China during that time. After the war he worked with Onchi Kōshirō and opened his own painting school in Tokyo in 1948.

In 1962 Hiratsuka visited his daughter in the USA and decided to move there entirely. He lived in Washington DC until 1994. He continued to be artistically active and held various positions in artistic associations. Three presidents commissioned him to make woodcuts of buildings of national interest. These include the Lincoln Memorial , Washington Monument, and the Library of Congress , which are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art and the Freer Gallery of Art . Finally, Hiratsuka returned to Japan in 1994.

In 1970 he was awarded the Order of the Holy Treasure by the Japanese government . In 1991 the “Hiratsuka Unichi Print Museum” was opened in Suzaka ( Nagano Prefecture , see web link).

literature

  • H. Merritt: Hiratsuka and Munakata. In: Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints. University of Hawaii Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8248-1200-X .
  • L. Smith: Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989. Cross River Press, 1994, ISBN 1-55859-871-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b O. Statler: Modern Japanese Prints: an Art reborn. Tuttle, 13th edition 1976. ISBN 0-8048-0406-0 .
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Hiratsuka is the family name, Un'ichi the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Hiratsuka, Un'ichi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 平 塚 運 一 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese wood cutter
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Matsue
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1997