Sekino Jun'ichirō

Sekino Jun'ichirō ( Japanese 関 野 準 一郎 ; October 23, 1914 in Aomori , Aomori Prefecture to April 13, 1988 ) was a Japanese woodcut artist and etcher of the Yōga direction .

life and work

Sekino graduated from Aomori Middle School in 1932. He became interested in painting at an early age, where he met Munakata Shikō , who was eleven years his senior and who also lived and worked as an artist in Aomori. Illustrations that Hasegawa Kiyoshi had made for the poetic work of Hinatsu Kōnoske led him to occupy himself with etching before he turned to the woodcut. Since that time he has also been interested in the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku . In 1935, Okada Saburōsuke and Nishida Takeo (President of the Japanese School of Etching) visited Aomori, who recommended him to exhibit at the "Teiten", where he won a prize with a woodcut. In 1936, Sekino turned illustrations by Takei Takeo (1894–1983) into woodcuts, a supporting role that he then often took on.

In 1939 Sekino moved to Tokyo and continued his education under Onchi Kōshirō , near whom he settled in the Okikubo district. In the same year he became a member of Onchi's Ichimoku-kai . However, he did not follow Onchi on his way into abstraction. During the Second World War , Sekino could not be artistically active, he then worked in the charity department of Iwasaki Communications. There he got to know Kabuki actors and bunraku groups, whom he supported in their performances. This meeting formed the basis for his later prints on related subjects.

After the war, he participated in all Ichimoku-kai activities. In 1950 he set up a study group on the subject of etching, which formally established itself as a society in 1953. From 1955 on, Sekino became internationally known, in 1958 he traveled through the USA and taught at the Pratt Graphics Center (New York). In 1963 he taught at Oregon State University and Washington State University in the USA and made lithographs at the Tamarind Institute ( Albuquerque ).

He made his famous portrait of Munakata in 1968. In 1969 he started teaching in Oregon again. In 1972 he presented his version of the 53 stations of the Tōkaidō , which he had worked on since 1959. In 1976 he visited France and Spain, in 1979 China. His last major series was "On narrow paths into the hinterland" , inspired by the text of Matsuo Basho .

Honors

• 25th Prize "Art Promotion Prize of the Minister of Culture" ( 芸 術 選 奨 文 部 大臣 賞 Geijutsu senshō Mombu daijin shō , 1975)
• Art Prize of the Emperor ( 紫 綬 褒 章 Shijūhōshō ) for the "53 stations of Tōkaidō", 1981
• Order of the Rising Sun, 4th level ( 旭日 小 綬 章, 勲 四 等 Kyōjitsu shōjūshō, Kun'yontō , 1987)

Remarks

1. ↑ Ichimoku-kai ( 一 木 会 ) is a common term in Japan for a regular meeting. Here the name is composed of “First Thursday” ( 一 木 ichi moku , short for 一 木 曜 mokuyōbi ) in the month and “Assembly” ( 会 , kai ).

literature

• Helen Merrit: Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints. The Early Years University of Hawaii Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8248-1200-X .
• Lawrence Smith: Modern Japanese Prints. 1912-1989. Cross River Press, 1994, ISBN 1-55859-871-5 .

Web links

• Selection from the Tokaido series

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Sekino is the family name, Jun'ichirō the first name.