Haku Maki

1924-2000

Poem 70-66 [Sato]

self-carved and self-printed woodblock and relief print with deep embossing; numbered, titled, and signed in pencil on the bottom margin, 4/153, Poem 70-66 [Sato], Haku Maki, with artist's red square seal within the composition at lower left, Haku Maki, ca. 1970

16 5/8 by 12 in., 42.1 by 30.6 cm

The kanji portion of the title, Sato, can be translated as 'village' or 'town.'

Born Maejima Tadaaki in Ibaraki prefecture in 1924, he relocated a great deal within his lifetime, moving to Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Tokyo. After WWII he graduated from Ibaraki Teacher's College in 1945 and took the role of Vice Principal at an elementary school. He was a participant of the printmaking group, Ichimoku-kai (the First Thursday [or wood] Society), which had been founded in 1946 by the influential sosaku hanga ('creative print') artist Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955). There were never more than 20 members which included contemporaries such as Toko Shinoda (b. 1913), and the informal gatherings ceased around 1950. Not long after, he chose the name Haku Maki (lit. 'white roll') at some point in the early 1950's. Maki marries Takako Umeno in 1954, who along with his sister-in-law, became his primary assistant. His mixed media printing technique used cement relief attached to carved woodblocks or cardboard and deep embossing printed on double-layered paper. Prominent subjects of Maki's prints are kanji and old texts in various calligraphy styles. His work is found in numerous Western Museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Provenance:
The Tsuruoka Family Collection (artist Kakunen Tsuruoka, 1892-1977)
(inv. no. C-1980)

price: Sold