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侘助の柵(柳緑花紅頌)
Two birds stand together amongst a flower bed, surrounded by dense bush – Munakata refers to the birds as ‘wabisuke.’ The work includes the subtitle ‘RyuRyokuKaKouShou’ – a word, or rather, an emotion describing the untouched beauty of nature; the beautiful scenery of spring. Munakata references the red flowers and the green willow of this printed scene. In Zen Buddhism, the appearance of nature itself, where flowers are red and willows are green, is the state of enlightenment.
Produced in harsh, and somewhat aggressive carvings of the block, this print emphasises Munakata’s more European approach to printmaking; a focus on the block and the process rather than the final print – a strong departure from the rules, and restrictions of traditional Japanese prints.
An exquisite lithograph produced on a very textural Japanese ‘washi’ paper, published by Yasukawa as part of their collaborative calendar project.
Original Printing Date: 1955, (Litho printing date: 2020)
