Kiyoshi Saito  (1907-1997)

Kiyoshi Saito, one of representative post-war print makers as well as one of Sosaku- hanga style artists, was born in the Aizu area of Fukushima prefecture in 1907. After moving to Tokyo when he was 24, he started teaching himself print-making, which was different from oil or ink-and-wash painting he normally did. Beginning to make woodblock prints, he won prizes at the fifth Japan Print Association exhibition in 1936 and the twelfth Kokugakai (National Picture Association) in 1937. His famous series: Winter in Aizu, featuring winter scenes from his hometown, has been created since 1940 for more than thirty years becoming the artist’s lifework. His Steady Gaze print won the first prize at Sao Paulo Biennale in 1951 and he held his first solo show in New York the following year. In the latter half of 1950s, Saito had already made considerable reputation in America, before getting recognition in his native Japan as well. He was also appointed teacher of print making in Michigan from 1956 to 1957. The year of 1957, when he was 50 years old, was probably the most successful for him. His prints were showed and awarded at international exhibitions such as Biennale of Graphic Art in Ljubljana, Slovenia and he had also exhibited solo at the Corcoran Gallery of Arts in Washington. After his international success, he finally exhibited twenty prints of the series: Winter in Aizu in Japan in 1970. Even at the age of 70, he visited Czech and Slovakia where he had his solo shows. He was awarded by Order of the Sacred Treasures in 1981 and the Order of Culture in 1995 for his contribution in promoting Japanese modern prints around the world as well as for working in education of the print-making technique. He managed to witness the opening of his museum: Kiyoshi Saito Museum of Art, Yanaizu in his birthplace, Fukushima prefecture, just before his death in November 1997. He was 90 years old. Saito was inspired by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Rodin, Munch and Gauguin more than by traditional, 19th Century Japanese woodblock prints. According to Saito, their romanticism, exoticism and mysticism had much influence on his work and he found himself becoming an interpreter of those European movements, applying their characteristics in his modern Japanese prints. Also, simple and bold style of Mondrian led him to make ambitious compositions in his prints. On the technical side, Saito had distinctive style using rare woodcut tool to scratch and pick at the wood rather than cut and chisel. Plus he sometimes used only one block to incorporate many colours into his work, while other print makers needed several different blocks. Pursuing the depth of tone in one colour, he used the wood patterns to add various textures.

Some Prints by Kiyoshi Saito   Online

£ 650        £ 1300