| Transcript |
- Sosaku hanga styles and techniques are as numerous and individualistic as the artists themselves. Since hanga means any sort of pictorial reproduction from a block, hanga included not only woodblocks, but also lithographs, mezzotint, aquatint, copper etchings, silkscreens or any other printing technique. Many modern printmakers roam freely among the different techniques, experi�menting with an infinite range of images and effects in their efforts to advance the frontiers of printmaking in Japan. They have used all kinds of materials and tools capable of creating a good imprint, including concrete, paper stencil, glass, cardboard, leaves, string, shoe heels, hand-rubbing, waxed paper and plywood. Plywood is popular with many modern Japanese printmakers because it is much easier to obtain than the traditional block of cherry wood, which is also extremely expensive and restrictive in size. Modern prints tend to be much larger than the traditional ukiyo-e print. The old prints were stored away between viewings, whereas modern prints are often designed to be hung on the wall and viewed from a distance like paintings.
The sosaku hanga print artists made one-man creations with self-designed, self-carved, self-printed and mostly self-published prints, and this was a direct antithesis of the produc�tion process of the ukiyo-e artists of Edo, who had a separate engraver, printer and publisher. Unlike ukiyo-e and shin hanga artists, who were mainly interested in producing commer�cial products in large numbers, the sosaku hanga artists on the whole produced limited editions and were concerned first and fore�most with the integrity of their art. While the sosaku hanga movement was essentially a repudiation of traditional printmaking, it owed a great debt to the rich Japanese heritage of aesthetic sensitivity. At first the sosaku hanga artists continued to use the woodblock technique and the same tools, material and high quality paper of their ancestors to achieve prints with fine textures and exquisite colour tones, but in time the dominance of the woodblock disappeared and they were more apt to use the mediums of silkscreen, intaglio or lithography.
Among the great names of the early sosaku hanga artists are Kanae Yamamoto (1882-
�preuves qui captent de nouveau la beaut� de l�ancienne estampe ukiyo-e. Apr�s avoir tout d�abord tir� des �preuves pour l�artiste autrichien Fritz Capelari, Watanabe a com�menc� � travailler avec une multitude d�artistes japonais de talent, Hashiguchi Goyo, Ito Shinsui, Kawase Hasui, Hiroshi Yoshida et Natori Shunsen, entre autres. Malheureuse�ment, le Grand Tremblement de Terre de 1923 a d�truit l�atelier de Watanabe. Le sinistre a �galement d�truit la majeure partie de ses stocks d�estampes et de planches originales.
Goyo (1880-1921) [couverture de devant, 52] �tait un des plus grands artistes xylographes du Japon. Il a commenc� � faire des estampes chez Watanabe en 1915, mais, m�content du travail de Watanabe, a ouvert son propre atelier en 1918. Goyo devait beaucoup au travail du grand artiste ukiyo-e Utamaro (1753-1806). L�influence d�Utamaro �tait �vidente dans la fascination qu�exer�aient sur Goyo les exquises coiffures d�taill�es et dans son go�t marqu� pour les grands portraits en demi-pied. Comme il prenait ses croquis sur le vif, il a pu obtenir des effets plus tridimen�sionnels que ses pr�d�cesseurs ukiyo-e. La plupart de ses estampes ont de merveilleux arri�re-plans micac�s. Cet artiste dou� est mort en 1921, lorsqu�il n�avait que quarante ans, laissant beaucoup d�estampes inachev�es. On l�a souvent appel� �le nouvel Utamaro.�
Tout comme l�estampe ukiyo-e, l�estampe shin hanga �tait produite comme denr�e commer�ciale populaire. Elle incorpore les sujets classiques de l'ukiyo-e, c�est-�-dire les jolies femmes, les acteurs kabuki, et les paysages. L�artisan shin hanga, pour ce qui est d�habilet� pure, valait bien son homologue ukiyo-e, et a r�ussi � cr�er des estampes aussi univer�selles, aussi d�licates et aussi belles, des points de vue composition et couleur.
Shinsui (1896-1972) [VI, 53] a d�but� par des portraits de femmes dans le style ukiyo-e. En 1916, Watanabe l�a convaincu de mettre la main � l�estampe, et Shinsui a par la suite r�alis� des oeuvres extraordinaires, sup�ri�eures � tout autre chose en son genre. Dans les ann�es 1920 et 1930, c��tait un des artistes les plus en vue au Japon.
Watanabe a entretenu de longues et fruc�tueuses relations avec Kawase Hasui (1883- 1957) [VII], qui a r�alis� des centaines d�estampes de paysages dont se d�gage une
|
|---|
