Sadao Watanabe (Japanese 1913-1986) Signed 1978 Stencil. A very limited edition, ours is number 10 of only 70 produced by Mr. Watanabe. Signed lower right, numbered and dated by the artist. Professionally framed, measures 25.50"x30"x1.50". Weight is 10 pds. PROVENANCE: Descendents of the Corning Glass Works. Sadao Watanabe, born in 1913, grew up in Tokyo, he was a well known Japanese printmaker in the 20th Century. The subject matter of Watanabe’s prints is exclusively the gospel rendered in the mingei (folk art) approach. Influenced by Buddhist figure prints, Watanabe placed biblical subjects in a Japanese context. In The Last Supper (1981) Watanabe depicts the disciples in kimono. On the table are bottles of sake and sushi. Watanabe uses kozo paper (from the mulberry tree) and momigami (kneaded paper). The momigami paper was crumpled by hand, squeezed and wrinkled to give a rough quality to the prints. The katazome method uses traditional organic and mineral pigments in a medium of soybean milk. The protein in the milk bound the colors to the paper’s surface. The use of natural materials is one of the characteristics of mingei (folk art). 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 sosaku-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 all exhibited and own Watanabe’s works. During President Lyndon Johnson's administration, Watanabe’s prints were hung in the White House. Watanabe once remarked that he preferred that his prints hang in the ordinary places of life "I would most like to see the art hanging where people ordinarily gather, because Jesus brought the gospel for the people". Such is the mingei philosophy of art for the people and by the people.

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