Tajima Hiroyuki
1911 - 1984
Selected
Works, Biography, Works
in Chronology Order
The White Lotus Gallery has an extensive collection of Tajima
woodblock prints. Included on this page is a sample of of the print we have
available.
You may also see the works in
chronological order by selecting this link.
Tajima Hiroyuki was born in Tokyo
Japan in 1911.
In 1932 he graduated from Nihon University and in 1943 from the
Western-style painting division of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.
Tajima had a great interest in the Western dada and surrealist styles.
He received further training on mokuhan
from Nagase Yoshi, one of the earliest Sosaku
Hanga artists and on fabric dyeing from Hirakawa Matsugoro.
The artist made his first print in
1946, the same year he joined the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai, a group instrumental in
bringing abstract and surrealist painting back to Japan after the war.
In the 1960s and 1970s Tajima developed his well-known abstract style of
prints made of dense rich pigments on complex surfaces formed by building the
block up with various materials.
His prints were inspired by the ideals of East Asian calligraphy,
traditional Japanese painting structures and a sense of space influenced by Zen
Buddhist beliefs.
In 1963 Tajima became a member of the Nihon Hanga Kyokai, the Japanese
Print Association.
In 1964 his work was shown in the Tokyo Biennale as well as in
international competitions.
Tajima also produced landscape prints under the name of Nagai Kiyoshi.
*Information comes from Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints:
1900 – 1975 by Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada and Modern Japanese
Prints 1912 – 1989, by Lawrence Smith
Copyright Restrictions : All images are provided for reference
only and may not be reproduced without permission.
