Sōsaku hanga

de Maureen de Vries

Traditional Japanese woodblock prints were a product of a collaboration between publisher, artist, wood block carver and printer. After 1900 a new generation of print artists emerged. In their sosaku hanga (creative prints) movement, freedom, expression of self, and the individual style of the artist play a central role. These prints have remarkable designs, formats and lines that reflect the changing Japanese society in which social and cultural developments are brought to the foreground. However, more traditional Japanese themes such as landscapes and beauties are also a common subject. This catalogue shows in a selection of prints from the Nihon no hanga Collection by what means sosaku hanga was brought into the realm of modern art, in Japan and abroad.00Exhibition: Japanmuseum SieboldHuis, Leiden, The Netherlands (26.01.-29.05.2022).