Stepping Stones in the Afternoon
Artist
Hiratsuka Un'ichi
(Japanese, 1895 - 1997)
Date1960
PeriodShōwa period (1926–1989)
CultureJapanese
MediumWoodblock print; ink and color on paper
ClassificationPrints
Credit LineGift of Charles and Robyn Citrin, 2017
Object numberSN11585.111
Hiratsuka’s postwar images are almost exclusively executed in monochrome. To achieve the saturated black in his prints, Hiratsuka would peel the paper away from the woodblock mid-printing, and reapply ink where necessary. Another technique he used is <italics>tsukibori</italics>, whereby he gouged into the woodblock sideways with a small chisel to produce a rough, animated line that here conveys the shimmering of warm air and the movement of ripples on the surface of the water.
Trained as an oil painter, Hiratsuka taught Japan’s first formal printmaking classes in 1935 at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Many young artists first learned printmaking here or in his private studio. In the early 1950s, Hiratsuka’s daughter’s family moved to Washington D.C., where they opened a gallery that sold artwork by Hiratsuka and his peers. Hiratsuka arrived for a visit in 1962, and remained in the U.S. for another 33 years.
On View
Not on viewSheet: 33 7/8 × 24 7/8 in. (86 × 63.2 cm)
Matt: 29 1/4 × 22 1/4 in. (74.3 × 56.5 cm)
Frame: 40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
mid 19th-early 20th Century
mid 19th-early 20th Century
