Plate (folio 7, recto) from Chu. Gyo. Kai.
Koshiro Onchi
Japanese, 1891–1955
1943
A woodcut plate from an illustrated book in which Onchi arranges simplified, textured shapes alongside Japanese text to evoke a quiet, poetic mood.
You notice a calm, asymmetrical balance: a washed blue circle overlapping a soft peach teardrop, a stippled black wedge like a speech mark and a vertical trio of navy dots on the left page, set against a column of kanji on the right that turns the spread into a pause between image and word.
The sheet shows Onchi’s role in transforming traditional Japanese printmaking into intimate abstract expression—merging woodcut technique, modernist form, and literary sensibility to propel the sōsaku hanga movement toward personal, poetic art.
Medium
One from an illustrated book with twelve woodcuts (including front and back covers)
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 6 5/16 x 5 7/8" (16 x 15 cm); page: 10 3/8 x 8 3/16" (26.3 x 20.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Committee on Prints and Illustrated Books Fund
Accession
740.2012.4
Palette
Exhibitions
