"Emotional Space" Abstract Numbered Print in Red, Black and Gray, by Hiroyuki Tajima, 1976

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Mid-Century Japanese woodblock print entitled "Emotional space" by Hiroyuki Tajima, circa 1976. The print is numbered 50-41 in the lower … Read more Mid-Century Japanese woodblock print entitled "Emotional space" by Hiroyuki Tajima, circa 1976. The print is numbered 50-41 in the lower center and is signed in the lower right. The piece is presented in a gold-toned metal frame with an off-white mat. The overall piece measures 23"w x 28-1/2"h and the image is 18"w x 24"h. Contemplative MCM piece in red, black and gray-blue.

Engraver and printmaker, Hiroyuki Tajima was born in Tokyo in 1911 and graduated from Nihon University in 1932. In 1934, he graduated from the Tokyo School of Arts with a specialization in western-style painting. Tajima later studied fabric dyeing under Hirokawa Matsugoro (1889-1952) and woodblock printing with the Sosaku-Hanga artist, Nagase Yoshiro (1891-1978), a founder of the Japan Print Association (Hanga Kyokai). In 1946, inspired by Dada and Surrealism, Tajima joined Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai, a group dedicated to exploring and reviving the abstract and surrealist painting ideals that had been suppressed during WWII.

He graduated from Nihon University in 1932 and continued his studies at Tokyo School of Fine Arts, graduating from the Western-style painting division in 1934. He also studied woodblock printing with Yoshio Nagase and fabric dyeing under Matsugoro Hirokawa during this time. Tajima made his first print in 1946 and joined Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai that same year. This organization was instrumental in the revitalization of abstract printing and surrealist painting in the wake of World War II. Between 1950 and 1952, Hiroyuki Tajima took a break from printmaking to write short stories and poetry. He returned to printmaking in the 1960s, participating in international exhibitions and exploring unlikely materials and complex textures in his abstract prints.

Tajima exhibited widely and with success, including with Tokyo's Modern Art Association ( Prix du Nouveau Venu, 1962), the Japanese Engraving Association, the Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition in Tokyo (1962), the Northwest International Print Exhibition (1962-1964) and the Tokyo International Print Biennale (1964). His work is held in the permanent collections of museums worldwide including the Portland Art Museum (Oregon), the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (British Columbia), the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), the Carnegie Museum of Art, the National Museum of Art, Osaka (NMAO) and the British Museum in London.

Born: Tokyo, Japan 1911
Lived in Yokohama, Japan
Graduated: The Tokyo Art College
Member: Japanese Print Association

Participated:
Northwest Print-makers International Exhibition (Seattle)
Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan (Tokyo)
International Print Biennale (Tokyo)
Contemporary Japanese Prints Exhibition (Sweden, Rome, Switzerland, and New York)
International Invitational Graphics Exhibition (Milwaukee)
Japan Art Festival (Bruxelles)

Collections:
Haifa, Israel
Oregon Art Museum
Carnegie Art Museum
New York Modern Art Museum
Boston Museum of Modern Art
Chicago Art Institute
Geneva Museum of History and Art
Museum of Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Seattle Art Museum
Craft Center (Australia)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul
Fogg Museum at Harvard University

In describing Tajima's work, Frances Blakemore comments: "Every Tajima work seems to glow from behind, as though it incorporated a fluorescent light shielded by a mysteriously textured fabric. ... Tajima's technique consists of brushing intensely colored dyes over a dark-colored medium, imparting luminosity to the white areas while enriching the basic colors of the print. The textured areas fade off into dark planes, seeming to float on a cool liquid. Thus the fascinating, bubbly shapes are set off by simple, relaxing ground forms. In this end, this rare combination of intricacy and confident simplicity makes Tajima's work both exciting and reassuring"

Exploring rich colors and entrancing textures, Tajima’s abstract woodblock prints express a freedom and imagination. Sometimes fantastical, sometimes deeply sensitive, sometimes powerful, these abstract woodblock prints have the ability to emotionally move the viewer through innovative technique, luminous gold, and saturated, textured planes of color. His work is renowned as some of the most significant abstract art of the postwar period. See less