Katsura, Kyoto (C)

Artist: Saitō Kiyoshi, Japanese, 1907–1997
Period: Shōwa period, 1926–1989
Date: 1955
Material: Color woodblock print
depicts: Kyoto, Japan, Asia
made in: Tokyo, Japan, Asia
Classification: Prints
Collection: Asian Art
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 14 1/2 × 21 in. (36.8 × 53.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift from the collection of Ann and Paul Arenberg
Rights: © Estate of Saito Kiyoshi
Object Number: 683:2018

NOTES

Saitō Kiyoshi’s work typically features imagery of “old Japan,” such as gardens, wooden houses, shopfronts, and Buddhist sculptures. Compositional elements are simplified into abstract fields of color and texture. His prints found favor with Western collectors in the period after 1945 for their blending of references to “traditional” Japanese culture and modern minimalism.

In 1951, Saitō won first prize at the inaugural São Paulo Biennale against paintings and sculpture by his compatriots. This helped to raise the status of printmaking in Japan, which had previously been seen as inferior to other media.

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