Buddhism in Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints | The Art Institute of Chicago

The earliest surviving prints date again to the eighth century; these have been sacred texts that have been positioned inside small picket pagodas. Japanese printmakers continued to develop associated imagery even after growing industrial types of their work within the seventeenth century. Over the previous 100 years, artists’ prints have grow to be a major approach for people to specific their beliefs by depicting Buddha, bodhisattvas, and different deities of the Buddhist pantheon. Such creations have usually served as acts of non-public devotion in response to dramatic or speedy social change, particularly after World War II.

Munakata Shikō was foremost amongst Twentieth-century artists who drew upon Buddhist iconography for his topics. Among this exhibition’s 25 prints are his two landmark sequence from the Thirties, Kegon-fu (1937) and Two Bodhisattvas and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (designed in 1939). In the latter, he rendered every massive determine with thick black strains and an evocative gesture or expression. The sequence struck a chord globally, receiving prestigious awards at worldwide biennials and changing into an iconic work of Twentieth-century printmaking.

Some of his contemporaries made extra understated reference to their spirituality—as an example, Hiratsuka Un’ichi recorded Buddhist monuments and sculptures in Japan and the United States. Munakata and Hiratsuka have been each artists of the sōsaku hanga (artistic print) motion, which foregrounded particular person expression and created a pathway for printmakers who proceed to discover their spirituality via the medium.

Munakata Shikō and Buddhism in Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints is curated by Janice Katz, Roger L. Weston Associate Curator of Japanese Art, the Art Institute of Chicago.

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