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Transcending Reality: The Woodcuts of Kosaka Gajin

February 11, 2017 – May 7, 2017

 

1986.1436; Gajin Kosaka (Japanese, b.1877, d.1953); Darkness over; PrintThe Cincinnati Art Museum’s Howard and Caroline Porter Collection is the largest repository of the woodcuts of Kosaka Gajin outside the family in Tokyo, Japan. This exhibition celebrates his prints capturing the beauty of Japan’s landscape and architectural monuments in a way that is totally modern in its individualized expression, not unlike the era’s action painting in the West. This exhibition of his later woodcuts will be the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in the United States.

Image: Kōsaka Gajin (Japanese, b.1887, d.1953), Darkness Over, circa 1950, woodcut, The Howard and Caroline Porter Collection, 1986.1436

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Japanese temple drawn in thick black lines

Kōsaka Gajin (1887–1953), Japanese, Nara, Todai-ji, 1952, woodcut, Centennial Gift of The Howard and Carline Porter Collection, 1980.67

Kōsaka Gajin's Darkness Over, think black lines create a bleak landscape under a dark sky

Kōsaka Gajin (1887–1953), Japan, Darkness Over, circa 1950, woodcut, The Howard and Caroline Porter Collection, 1986.1436

Kōsaka Gajin's A Temple Gate, abstract drawing of a temple with think black shapes

Kōsaka Gajin (1887–1953), Japan, A Temple Gate, Kyoto, 1952, woodcut, The Howard and Caroline Porter Collection, 1986.1439

Kōsaka Gajin's Castle Tower, abstract drawing of a Japanese castle in black

Kōsaka Gajin (1887–1953), Japan, Castle Tower, 1952, woodcut, The Howard and Caroline Porter Collection, 1990.106

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