Contemporary Japanese Woodblock Prints

After the difficult times in Japan during the first half of the Twentieth Century there grew a slow renaissance in the art of Woodblock Prints.
New markets appeared and interest in the artform spread into the Western world.

By the end of the 1950s a new confidence and optimism encompassed the Japanese art world, fuelled by demand for the art form from America and Europe.

By 1980 Japanese Woodblock prints were displayed in New York, Amsterdam and Paris in both private and public galleries.

As the 21st Century began the appreciation for the artform exploded.
Art lovers began to take notice of this unique and amazing form of artistic expression.

The modern day Japanese Woodbock artists are diverse and cater to a host of tastes. Many display a creative brilliance that has caused the woodblocks to escalate in value.
Investment value of modern woodblocks continues to grow.

Japanese Woodblock prints by Contemporary Artists offer the wise collector the opportunity to amass beautiful artworks at the same time as creating a private portfolio of tangible items which are easy to house and offer hours and hours of pleasure.

KATO, TERUHIDE was Born in 1936 and Studied at the Kyoto Art College.
He had a very successful career as a Kimono Designer and at the age of 50 decided to follow his life long ambition to become a traditional Woodblock Artist.
His talent was quickly acknowledged and his Woodblocks shown in New York.
A book, entitled Kyoto Romance, was published about his work.
Virtually all of Teruhide Kato's available woodblocks are in open editions and in latter years are published by Unsodo which is a mark of his commercial success.

NISHIJIMA, KATSUYUKI was born in 1945 in Yamaguchi Province of Japan. From 1964 to 1968 he studied the art of Woodblock Prints in the studio of the Mikumo publishing house in Kyoto as well as exhibiting his work with the Kyoto independent artists and in solo displays.
From 1972 he focused his immense talents on limited edition woodblocks using traditional old buildings as his main subject matter.

Katsuyuki Nishijima's woodblocks come in a number of formats and the larger sizes are limited editions of usually 500, all hand signed, titled and numbered but normally never dated. He has also produced a number of open edition woodblocks since the mid 1970s which are hand signed and titled and again not dated.

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