**Originally Listed At $400**

Sekino Jun'ichiro (Japanese, 1915-1988), Untitled (young girl in kimono with traditional hairstyle, Maiko) woodblock, ca. 1960s. “Artist’s Proof” handwritten in pencil on the lower left margin. Signed inside the image with the artist’s red seal. A stunning portrait of a girl dressed in a beautiful red, white, grey, and black kimono - her attractive visage presenting delicate features and framed by a well-manicured coiffure adorned by hair ornaments. A special example, custom matted and framed, with excellent provenance as this piece was purchased directly from the artist in Japan by the current owner's father who was a captain in the US Air Force, stationed in Misawa, Japan at the time. Size: image measures 26.25" L x 20" W (66.7 cm x 50.8 cm); 30.75" L x 24" W (78.1 cm x 61 cm) including mats and frame

A prolific and versatile artist, Sekino is considered one of the preeminent modern Japanese woodblock printmakers of the 20th century. a pioneer of the early 20th century Japanese printmaking movement known as sosaku hanga (creative prints), so named because artists affiliated with this movement, influenced by artists from the West, who were solely responsible for all aspects of the creation of their prints (unlike the premodern Japanese Ukiyo-e printmakers such as Hokusai or Hiroshige, who were simply the prints' designers working in collaboration with highly specialized craftsmen who cut and printed the blocks). Sekino first began making woodblock prints, oil paintings, and etchings when a teenager living in his hometown in northern Japan. Soon after winning a prestigious prize at a government-sponsored national juried exhibition (Bunten) in 1936, he moved to Tokyo, the epicenter of Japan's modern art world, to further his studies with the giant of the sosaku hanga movement, Onchi Koshiro (1891–1955). Like other Japanese sosaku hanga artists, his modernist approach to printmaking only found international acclaim soon after World War Two, when he had his first solo exhibitions in Tokyo and participated in prestigious international exhibitions in Europe, and North and South America. He was also one of the eminent contemporary Japanese artists invited to tour and exhibit in the United States in 1958 by the Rockefeller Foundation. His art was then collected by major museums worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art NY and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Sekino returned to the US in 1963 to teach printmaking at Oregon State University and after his return to Japan, settled in Kobe, where he taught at Kobe University.

Highly revered as one of the most influential and accomplished woodblock print masters of the 20th century, Sekino is known for his beautiful portraits, as well as his landscapes and semi-abstract compositions. His work was influenced by Japanese masters such as Sharaku and European masters like Albrecht Durer. Sekino Junichiro’s works have been collected by many esteemed museums. See, for example, Untitled (Geisha in Profile) (accession number 2007.32.93) at the Brooklyn Museum (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/173890).

Selected References:


Oliver Statler. Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1956.

Helen Merritt. Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints - The Early Years. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990.

Alicia Volk. Made in Japan: The Postwar Creative Print Movement, 1945-1970. Seattle: University of Washington Press and Milwaukee Art Museum, 2005.

Provenance: private Lakewood, Colorado, USA collection, acquired by descent; The owner’s father purchased this piece directly from the artist Sekino Junichiro when he was a captain in the Air Force stationed in Misawa, Japan during the 1960s. As stated, this piece is an artist’s proof.

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#131057

Good condition with slight fold lines. Marked “Artist’s Proof” in pencil in lower margin; signed with artist's seal in red within picture.