Japanese Woodblock Print, 1960, 1st edition, self published, pencil signed, dated, and numbered 417/510

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 12.75 x 19.5 inches

COMMENTS: Included in the book "The Modern Japanese Print, An Appreciation by James Michener.

SADAO WATANABE (1913-1996) born and raised in Tokyo, was a Japanese printmaker in the 20th century. Watanabe was famous for his biblical prints rendered in the mingei (folk art) tradition of Japan. As a student of the master textile dye artist Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984), Watanabe was associated with the mingei (folk art) movement.

The young Watababe worked in dyers' shops, sketching patterns and dyeing clothes. In 1937, one year after Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), father of the Japanese mingei (folk art) movement, had established the Folk Art Museum, the 24-year-old Watanabe saw an exhibition of Serizawa Keisuke's (1895-1984) work. The event sowed the seeds of Watanabe's artistic endeavor. A few years later, Watanabe attended a study group in which Serizawa taught his katazome technique of stencilling and dyeing, which originated in Okinawa. From then on, the teacher-and-student relationship between Serizawa and Watanabe became strong and abiding.

In 1958, Watanabe received first prize at the Modern Japanese Print Exhibition held in New York City for The Bronze Serpent showing Moses and the people of Israel. Watanabe's Kiku ("Listening") (1960) was featured in the novelist James Michener's The Modern Japanese Print (1962), a book that introduced ten sÅsaku-hanga artists to the Western audience.

The Vatican Museum, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and many other leading museums in the world have exhibited Watanabe's works. During President Lyndon Johnson's administration, Watanabe's prints were hung in the White House.

VG, with minor flaws as shown