Reika Iwami (岩見 禮花 Iwami Reika, (born 1927 - March 18, 2020) was a Sōsaku-hanga woodblock printmaker who worked primarily with abstract compositions.[1]
Biography
editIwami was born in Tokyo in 1927 but raised in Kyushu.[2] She later lived in Kanagawa.[3] She studied part time at Bunka Gakuin, and then spent 11 years studying doll-making with Ryūjo Hori[2][3][4] before turning her attention to printmaking in 1954.[5]
She studied with Koshiro Onchi, a prominent founder of the Sōsaku-hanga movement.
Prints
editIwami's prints frequently feature sumi black ink in solid geometric shapes combined with the organic texture of the wood grain, as well as deeply embossed paper and gold leaf.
In 1994, the art dealer Norman Tolman wrote of her work:
"Iwami’s subject is water and its flow, and her genius lies in the almost mystical ability to transmute the grain and texture of pieces of wood she has found into visual images of patterns of water."[2]
In his 1962 book, The Modern Japanese Print - An Appreciation, James A. Michener described his first encounter with Iwami's prints, and mistaking the work for "another of the gifted young men who were knocking for admission to the ateliers of critical review". Michener concluded that "this Iwami, whoever he was, had already reached a point rather more advanced than competing artists who were just then appearing on the scene."[6] Iwami was a prolific printmaker and among the first women printmakers in Japan to achieve recognition at the same level as her male colleagues.
Collections
editThe following is a partial list of collections[3]
Affiliations
editReferences
edit- ^ Rimer, Thomas J. (2004). Collected Writings of J. Thomas Rimer. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN 1135311935.
- ^ a b c Tolman, Mary & Norman (1994). Collecting Modern Japanese Prints Then & Now. Tuttle. ISBN 1462903746.
- ^ a b c 60th CWAJ Print Show Catalogue. Tokyo: College Women's Association of Japan. 2015. p. 205.
- ^ "Reika Iwami Japanese Sosaku Hanga Woodblock Prints". www.asianartscollection.com. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
- ^ "Hanga Ten » IWAMI REIKA". hangaten.com. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ Michener, James A. (James Albert), 1907-1997. (1968). The modern Japanese print : an appreciation. Hiratsuka, Un'ichi, 1895-1997,, Maekawa, Senpan, 1888-1960,, Mori, Yoshitoshi, 1898-1992,, Watanabe, Sadao, 1913-1996,, Shima, Tamami, 1937-1999,, Azechi, Umetarō, 1902- (First popular ed.). Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-8048-0405-2. OCLC 433242.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Winter Composition". British Museum. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ^ "Work / Material Details : The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura&Hayama". www.moma.pref.kanagawa.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-07-25.
- ^ "New moon and sea - C, (1991) by Reiko Iwami Reika :: The Collection :: Art Gallery NSW". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ^ Iwami, Reika (2005). "Spirit of water". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
- ^ "Iwami Reika | The Art Institute of Chicago". www.artic.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
- ^ "Water Music V | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org. Retrieved 2020-11-04.