<b>TO MY MOTHER</b> / Koshiro Onchi1930<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

Koshiro Onchi was one of the leading printmakers in 20th century Japan. He is credited with producing the first work of abstraction in printed form in 1915. Onchi was comfortable in both abstract and representational formats, making his prints stylistically varied. He is known for imbuing his work with an expressive quality that was thought-provoking and emotionally potent. In many cases, his most expressive work remains unrivaled today. With his charisma, Onchi tended to the flame of the sosaku hanga movement during the dark years leading to and during the war by encouraging artists to produce creative prints for art’s sake.

 A ceaseless experimenter, this unique work is a departure for Onchi and is a wonderful example of his brief exploration of sculpture using found objects. The circular work is sharply divided into quadrants, perhaps suggesting different ideas, emotions, or memories, that build-up the whole. The work demonstrates Onchi’s interest in using found objects in the process of building compositions. He would later utilize this technique in his pre-war experiments with photography, which resulted in his photograms and highly innovative postwar abstract designs. This arrangement is an artful balance of psychological and emotional elements. It is interesting to consider two print designs that may relate to this sculpture, Lyric I (1914), and Poem, White Flower (1954), illustrated below. Both designs demonstrate Onchi’s interest in using representational elements, such as the human eye, amid semi-abstracted abstracted compositions.

Connoisseur's Note

Onchi’s early printed work is scarcely available for sale, and his sculptures are nearly impossible to secure. This work is one of three known relief sculptures and was directly acquired from the Onchi family. The sculpture was exhibited in the Onchi retrospective of 1994, Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT) and is listed as plate 130 in the exhibition catalogue, Onchi: A Poet of Colors and Forms (1994).