Edutainment > Modern Japanese Prints

Woman in snow
by Tsunetomi Kitano

This article introduces a number of lesser known artists of the Shin Hanga movement from the first half of the twentieth century. Some of them are female artists. Shin Hanga literally means New Prints. It was a movement for a new style of printmaking from about 1915 until 1962. And while Japanese prints by artists like Hasui Kawase, Natori Shunsen or Shinsui Ito have become very expensive, you can get an excellent print by Shoen Uemura or Seien Shima for US$200 or even less.

Tsunetomi Kitano 1880-1947

Tsunetomi Kitano started as an apprentice woodblock carver. The skill he acquired as a carver was an excellent basis for the design and production of his brilliant print works. His teacher was Inano Toshitsune who had been a student of the famous print artist Yoshitoshi. Tsunetomi Kitano became the most important art painter and printmaker of bijin prints - prints of beautiful women - in Osaka in the first half of the twentieth century. Two of his students should become famous printmaker themselves - Chigusa Kotani and Shima Seien.

Chigusa Kotani 1889-1945

Heroine Ochiyo
by Chigusa Kotani

This female artist is also known by the name Chigusa Kitani and Chitane Kitani. She was born in Osaka with the given name of Eiko. Chigusa Kotani had studied with Tsunetomi Kitano, Ikeda Shoen and Keigetsu Kikuchi. Her favorite subjects were images of women. Later she took her subjects from modern Japanese theater.

Seien Shima 1892-1970

Heroine Yugiri
by Seien Shima

Seien Shima was born in Sakai with the given name Narie as the daughter of a Japanese painter. She had studied under Tsunetomi Kitano and Kyuho Noda. She painted mainly bijin-ga - pictures of beautiful women - in a mixture of traditional Japanese art and modern style. After world war II she moved to Osaka where she stayed and painted until the end of her life.

Shoen Uemura 1875-1949

Female Ghost
by Shoen Uemura

Shoen Uemura is another woman artist. She was born in Kyoto where her parents had a little tea shop. As a little girl she showed all signs of a prodigy child. The drawings of the little child won the admiration of those close to her. Shoen Uemura studied art at the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting. Her teacher was Suzuki Shonen with whom she was suspected of having a relationship. She gave birth to a daughter but never revealed the name of the father.

In her works she shows a modern image of Japanese women. Shoen Uemura won many prizes and honors. In 1948 she became the first woman to receive the Order of Cultural Merit. Shoen Uemura is highly respected in today's Japan as an outstanding artist and a forerunner for the rights of women in the Japanese society.

Literature sources used for this article

• Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, "Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0-8248-1732-X
• The Female Image - 20th century prints of Japanese beauties, ABE PUBLISHING LTD., Tokyo & Hotei Publishing Leiden, ISBN 90-74822-20-7

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