MUNAKATA SHIKO: FLYING OVER THE MOUNTAINS

拍品描述

MUNAKATA SHIKO: FLYING OVER THE MOUNTAINS By Munakata Shiko (1903-1975), signed Shiko Munakata and sealed Japan, dated 18 May 1956 Woodblock print on paper. Set inside a frame, behind glass. Signed Shiko and sealed; further signed in pencil in Roman script Munakata. Title Yamagoe (Flying Over the Mountains), from the series Uto Hanga-kan (The Tale of the Auklet). Image SIZE 34 x 44.5 cm, SIZE incl. frame 52 x 57.5 cm The English title of this series is often given as 'The Tale of the Cormorant'; though the bird in the drama on which it is based is a different species, Munakata has shown it as the more familiar (and dramatic-looking) cormorant. The prints are based on a Noh play about a bird-hunter who catches puffin chicks by imitating the cry of the mother bird. He is eventually tormented in hell by the vengeful birds and seeks salvation by returning as a ghost. Munakata sets the story in his native Aomori, giving it the dignified poetry and slow pace characteristic of Noh drama. The series consists of thirty prints, all of them of striking beauty and originality. Munakata Shiko (1903-1975) was a prolific printmaker who studied with the famous master Un'ichi Hiratsuka. Munakata attracted widespread recognition by winning awards in major international print shows in 1952, 1955, and 1956. In 1960 the Cleveland Museum of Art organized an exhibition of Munakata's work that later traveled to Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Munakata received the Order of Culture, Japan's highest honor in the arts, in 1970. For the rest of his life, he maintained a preeminent position as the best-known modern Japanese printmaker both at home and abroad. Museum comparison: A closely related print is in the British Museum, registration number 1994,1217,0.23. Another closely related print is in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1983.1048. Auction comparison: Compare a related print, from the same series, at Bonhams, Prints and Photographs, 6 November 2007, San Francisco, lot 153 (sold for USD 2,700 or approx. EUR 3,600 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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