Limited Edition Screenprint "Athens" by Risaburo Kimura 1973

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This artwork is a limited-edition screenprint (serigraph) titled "Athens" created in 1973 by the Japanese post-war artist Risaburo Kimura (1924–2014), … Read more This artwork is a limited-edition screenprint (serigraph) titled "Athens" created in 1973 by the Japanese post-war artist Risaburo Kimura (1924–2014), part of his Great Cities suite.
• Artist: Risaburo Kimura (Japanese, 1924–2014)
• Title: Athens
• Year: 1973
• Medium: Screenprint (serigraph) on BFK Rives paper
• Edition: Typically an edition of 250 (plus artist proofs), hand-signed, titled, and numbered (71/250) in pencil by the artist.
• Publisher / Printer: Shorewood Publishers / Shorewood Atelier

This artwork features an abstract, expressionistic depiction of ancient ruins, likely inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, framed by dramatic, dynamic architectural lines and textured environments.
• The Columns (Foreground): Five prominent, towering columns anchor the composition. They are rendered with heavily textured vertical lines that give them a chiseled, fragmented, or almost textile-like quality. The bases of the columns blend into vibrant green and turquoise tones, accented by small geometric blocks, while the tops remain stark white against the darker background.
• The Ground (Midground): The space between and surrounding the columns is filled with a dense, stippled pointillism pattern. It features thousands of tiny, multicolored flecks—reds, oranges, blues, and greys—giving the impression of a mosaic floor, a field of wild flowers, or ancient debris scattered across the landscape.
• The Sky (Background): The top half of the piece is dominated by sharp, jagged, geometric strokes of icy blue and deep purple, evoking a fractured sky or intense sunlight striking the ruins. A bright crescent form sits near the top left corner.
• Signatures & Margins: The bottom border shows the artist's pencil annotations typical of a fine art print: the edition number on the far left, the title "ATHENS" in the center, and the artist's distinctive signature Risaburo Kimura on the right.

Historical Context:

The piece is part of Risaburo Kimura’s "Great Cities of the World" suite created in 1973. After moving from Japan to New York in the 1960s, Kimura became fascinated by urban architecture, history, and cityscapes.
This series represents his unique fusion of traditional Japanese design sensibilities with Western Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art techniques. Rather than a realistic landscape, "Athens" is a conceptual reflection on the enduring spirit, color, and geometric structure of the ancient city. See less