Maiko (an apprentice geisha), Kyoto Japan, 20th century

Maiko (an apprentice geisha), Kyoto

1960

Saitō Kiyoshi 斎藤清

(1907–1997)

Japan, 20th century

color woodcut

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.394

Location: not on view

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Description

Twentieth-century Japanese printmakers often exploit the grain of the woodblock to create striated patterns within the work. Saito, like his mentors Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin before him, incorporated into the image the texture inherent in the woodblock. Saito reduced form to simple, flat shapes, achieving abstracted, strong compositions printed in only a few muted earth tones. Saito was the first modern Japanese printmaker to win an award abroad at the First Biennial Exhibition of the Modern Art Museum in Saõ Paulo, Brazil, in 1951. This international recognition helped to establish the legitimacy of the sosaku-hanga printmaking movement.