Art Blog

Connoisseurship of Japanese Prints, Part II

The Art Institute of Chicago: March 4-May 7, 2006

Inagaki Tomoo. Sketch for Cat Making Up (A), c. 1962. Ink and pencil on paper. Gift of the artist.

Continuing with the theme of the previous exhibition which explored issues of connoisseurship in Edo period (1615-1868) prints, the current display tackles these questions for from the mid- to late 20th century. Contemporary print artists in Japan often changed their color choices, modified the subject, or altered the printing technique of an image in the middle of a print run resulting in works that look similar but have different details. Prints from the same edition exhibiting these changes will be on display. In addition, several preparatory sketches along with their final printed versions will be shown to further elucidate particular artists’ working methods. Featured in the exhibition will be prints by such luminaries as Sekino Jun’ichiro (1914-1988) and Saito Kiyoshi (1907-1997), along with less familiar artists such as Kinoshita Tomio (b. 1923) and Inagaki Tomoo (1902-1980). ...

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