Description

In 1951 Saito began a series of prints based on ancient burial figures called haniwa, terra-cotta funerary statuettes with a charming, naïve naturalism from the 3rd to 6th century. Saito found them to "have a beauty like nudes," and using woodcut, he reproduced in prints the rough surface of the original clay Buddha. In 1985, following the death of her husband, Eleanor Smith gave the museum his collection of 198 color woodcuts by Saito, nearly the complete oeuvre of this well-known, popular printmaker.