Ryoanji, Kyoto (B)

Artist/Culture SAITO Kiyoshi (Japanese, 1907–1997)

Date1960

Mediumwoodblock print, ink and color on paper

Dimensions55.6 x 37.1 cm (21 7/8 x 14 5/8 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. David Milliken

Terms

Object number1999.45

Label Text2004-08-06: SAITO, Kiyoshi (1907-97) Ryoanji, Kyoto (B) 1960 Ed. 52/200 Signed Kiyoshi Saito; sealed Kiyoshi Label pasted to reverse stamped self carved self printed Kiyoshi Saito; sealed Kiyoshi Woodblock print, ink and color on paper Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David J. Milliken, 1999.45 Saito was a Western-style oil painter, raised in rural Hokkaido. His self-taught, experimental woodblock-printing skills gradually brought him fame as a print artist. In 1943, while working at Asahi Newspaper Company in Tokyo, Saito met Onchi Koshiro and was invited to join the Japan Print Association and attend monthly gatherings held at the master's house. In the late 1940s and 50s, Americans traveling to Japan were enchanted by Saito's prints of Japanese temples, such as this composition of the stone garden at Ryoan-ji, which they felt captured the essence of their own experiences. In 1951, a Saito print also took first prize over painted and sculpted works at the São Paolo Biennale in Brazil. This stunning achievement awakened the Japanese art establishment and brought prominence to the Creative Print Movement. An admirer of the expressive works of Munch and Gauguin as well as the abstract works of Onchi and Mondrian, Saito rendered gardens and architecture with his interplay of bold, flat shapes filled with austere, textured colors. Several printings of the same color achieved depth of tone, while plywood-blocks faced with different types of special woods created varying "grain-printing" effects.ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. David Milliken; purchased from the International Graphic Art Society, N.Y.

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