Fable of the Sea (Umi no dowa)
Artist
Onchi Koshiro
(Japanese, 1891–1955)
Date1934
Mediumunbound folio with Ink and color on paper.
Dimensions29.2 x 40.7 cm (11 1/2 x 16 in.)
ClassificationsBooks
Credit LineHarriet B. Bancroft Fund
Object number1985.25
DescriptionUnbound folio with eight leaves and six woodblock prints. Designs, woodcut blocks and poem by Onchi. Unbound folio with eight leaves, with six woodcut illustrations in color designed by Onchi Koshiro, opposite printed phrases of prose poem by Onchi, numbered with woodcut numerals. Included at the beginning of the folio; woodblocks carved by Onchi.Label Text2004-08-06: ONCHI, Koshiro (1891-1955) ONCHI, Koshiro (1891-1955) Fable of the Sea (Umi no dowa) 1934 Designs, woodcut blocks and poem by Onchi Published by Hanga So, Tokyo (Hirai Hiroshi) Unbound folio with eight leaves, with six woodcut illustrations in color, opposite printed phrases of prose poem by Onchi, numbered with woodcut numerals Ink and color on paper Harriet B. Bancroft Fund, 1987.25 Onchi Koshiro was the leading abstract print artist of his time in Japan. He was also a skillful and very successful book designer, magazine editor, poet and critic, designing over one thousand books. Clearly influenced by the avant-garde ideas of Moholy-Nagy and the Bauhaus Movement, Onchi's unbound folio, Fable of the Sea, pairs lines from his prose poem, The Sea and the Female Body (Umi to nyotai), with woodcut designs of riddle-like abstract and figurative imagery in soft colors. The exhibited design illustrates a phrase from the poem (printed on the opposing page) in which the word poripu-tai (polyps) has been substituted with seicho (living creatures)-"Nails become sea-shells, the torso coral, and lips, living creatures." The middle section of Onchi's three-part poem reads: New skin trembles in intense sunlight Piercing on the skin a red outer line Nails become seashells, the torso coral, and lips, red polyps Ripples like needle-lace wreathes the feet, In a hurry to be the first to enter rocks clefts Waves fluttering, Fluttering like blue wings A woman's body becomes a fish, cutting the water Clouds are in the sky, fish dive through the water The sea becomes blue evermore. Fable of the Sea (Umi no dowa) 1934 Designs, woodcut blocks and poem by Onchi Published by Hanga So, Tokyo (Hirai Hiroshi) Unbound folio with eight leaves, with six woodcut illustrations in color, opposite printed phrases of prose poem by Onchi, numbered with woodcut numerals Ink and color on paper Harriet B. Bancroft Fund, 1985.25 ProvenanceW. H. Pinchard, Oakland, CA
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