1972 "Premonition A" Abstract Color Signed Woodblock by Akira Kurosaki

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This is really a wonderful original. I have tried to buy a few Kurosaki prints in the past but never … Read more This is really a wonderful original. I have tried to buy a few Kurosaki prints in the past but never been able to acquire them. They dont come out of collections very often. For those not familiar with the artist, I have included his biography below. This seems to be a particularly scarce example of the artist's work. I have not been able to find another example of this particular print. I have found the Premonition B print that is on display in the collection of the British Museum. Their curator's comments describe the print as "The Japanese title translates as 'Dark Premonition'. Kurosaki in his early work experimented with unusual shapes, which added to their Surrealistic and dream-like atmosphere. The effect here is of looking through a window into a nightmare interior, including his obsessive motifs of this period of breasts and of stairs leading nowhere. According to Petit (1973, Descriptive List of Plates, no. 115), describing a different copy, this was printed from nine blocks of shirai-faced plywood on 'torinoko' paper. The colours were a combination of 'ganryo' (mineral pigments), 'sumi' (black carbon ink) and oil paints. The 'bokashi' (shading on the block) of the 'sumi' on the central red column is particularly accomplished." This print follows all the same imagery and style and production. A large image measuring 19 1/2 x 27 1/4 inches on complete original sheet measuring 23 x 31 1/4 inches. Signed, titled, and numbered from an edition of 45 in pencil below the image. Print is in outstanding pretty much as printed condition. It has sat in an archival mount with archival corners holding it to a backing. Really a stunning example of this scarce and important work. Ready for framing or putting away in your personal collection. Print will be mailed flat to preserve its current condition.

For those not familiar with the artist, his biography from a gallery that sells the artist's work reads: "Akira Kurosaki was born in Dalien, Manchuria on January 10, 1937. While still a student in junior high, his father arranged for Akira to study painting with Tsuguro Ito in Ashiya. When it was time to plan for university studies, his father forbade him from studying painting as he felt his son could not make a living as an artist. In 1956 Kurosaki entered he Kyoto Institute of Technology where he studied in the Department of Design and received his B.A. degree in 1962. Almost immediately after earning his degree, he began teaching part-time until 1968. His first solo color woodcut exhibition was mounted at Shimanouchi Gallery in Osaka in 1965.
Kurosaki has traveled the world as a visiting professor, artist in residence, and lecturer. He served on the international juries or as a chairman of the Executive Committee for various International Print Biennales. His work is represented in the collections of the Kyoto City Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art in Kamakura, National Museum of Art in Osaka, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in Sapporo, National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, Bellas Artes National Museum in Santiago, Bibliotheque nationale in Paris, National Museum of Krakow, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Library of Congress in Washington, Los Angeles County Museum, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts in San Francisco, and the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. " See less