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- 1946), Koshiro Onchi (1891-1955) [75] and Unichi Hiratsuka (1895- ) [76]. These artists advocated their new approach to printmaking by publishing a magazine called Nippon Sosaku Hanga Kyokai in 1918. Their aim was to inform the public of their movement through exhibitions. Kanae Yamamoto was the main driving force who first projected the school into the international limelight. He travelled extensively in Europe and produced prints resembling the works of van Gogh and Gauguin. Perhaps the greatest artist of the school was Koshiro Onchi, whose work had a Western appearance and did not reveal the fact that he was Japanese.
Since the early part of the twentieth century, the modern Japanese print movement has received wide recognition and support from abroad especially in Europe and the United States. However, it still took a long time for it to be accepted in Japan. At first these print artists eked out a scant livelihood, were heavily criticized by the Japanese government for their revolutionary views, and were largely ignored by the established Japanese art world and the public. But finally in the mid-1950�s, several international awards forced official Japanese acceptance and recognition. In short, the sosaku hanga print movement in Japan may have never got firmly established without the interest and support shown by foreigners. The sosaku hanga artists played a minor role in the development of graphic art prior to World War II but after the war until the 1970�s, there was a confident flowering of their art and they became virtually �the graphic establishment of Japan. By the 1980�s,theterm sosaku hanga was dropped due to the proliferated nature printmaking had taken.
Since 1945, no other modern Japanese art form has had such a tremendous international impact as the sosaku hanga print. The creativity, aesthetical sensibilities and formal concepts of the modern Japanese artist seem more attuned to printmaking than painting and sculpture. Whereas Japanese painters and sculptors seem heavily influenced by Western art, Japanese printmakers have shown a greater ability to assimilate foreign ideas and use them to develop a style that is distinctly their own. Japanese printmakers have received inspiration from all the major artistic move�ments of the twentieth century�Expression�ists, Cubists, Futurists, Surrealists, Abstrac-
atmosph�re distincte. Hasui �tait grandement redevable de ses paysages au ma�tre pay�sagiste de I'ukiyo-e, Hiroshige. Hasui par�tageait l�int�r�t port� par ce dernier � l�heure de la journ�e, � la saison, au temps, et surtout aux chutes de neige.
Un des plus grands artistes du shin hanga, et des plus prolifiques, a commenc� sa carri�re en tant que peintre � l�huile dans le style occidentalisant. Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) [59] a pris mod�le sur les Impressionnistes fran�ais. La nature �tait la source principale de son inspiration, de m�me que ses voyages en Asie, en Afrique, en Europe et en Am�rique, o� il trouvait les sujets d�un grand nombre de ses estampes. Yoshida a int�gr� les id�es artistiques occidentales aux techniques japonaises traditionnelles. Le r�sultat est une version occidentalisante et moderne de l�estampe ukiyo-e traditionnelle. Comme Yoshida personnellement surveillait les processus de gravure et d�impression, et qu�il exigeait les plus hautes normes artisanales, ses estampes son sup�rieures sur le plan technique. Il a utilis� une vaste gamme de couleurs, mais l�effet en est toujours doux et subtile. Les estampes de Yoshida refl�tent �galement l�influence de Hiroshige, c�est-�- dire qu�il �tait pr�occup� par les saisons, le temps, l�heure de la journ�e, et un angle de vision peu commun. Quelques membres de sa famille, Masaji Yoshida (1917-1971) [91] et Hodaka Yoshida (n� en 1926) [40], par exemple, se sont r�v�l�s de grands artistes du mouvement sosaku hanga; cependant, un de ses fils, Toshi Yoshida (n� en 1911) [60], a continu� � faire des estampes ukiyo-esque dans le style traditionnel de son p�re.
L�artiste ukiyo-e le plus admir� pour ses portraits d�acteurs �tait Sharaku (actif 1794- 1795). Trois artistes shin hanga ont essay� de capter de nouveau l�esprit de ses magnifiques estampes kabuki. Natori Shunsen (1886-1960) [65], Yamamura Koka (1885-1942) [66] et Yoshikawa Kampo (n� en 1894) [67] ont produit des estampes stylis�es, riches en texture, qui, dans une grande mesure, r�ussis�sent � r�tablir les pittoresques traditions th��trales de l'ukiyo-e. Tout au d�but du vingti�me si�cle, un artiste du nom de Kogyo (1869-1927) [68] a fait un certain nombre d��tudes xylographiques int�ressantes, con�sacr�es au th��tre aristocratique du No.
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