Umetaro Azechi
Artist: Umetaro Azechi (1902-1999)
Date: Unknown
Medium: woodblock print
Dimensions: 4” x 5.75”
Artist’s Country of Birth:
Collecting Genre: Practicing Artist
Accession Number: 2451
Visual Description: A boy and his dog.
Notes from Ray: Umetaro Azechi (畦地 梅太郎, Azechi Umetarō, December 28, 1902 – April 12, 1999) was a Japanese printmaker and mountain climber. He was known for his prints of mountains and people who live in them. Biography[edit] Azechi was born on December 28, 1902, to a poor farming family in what is now Uwajima, Ehime. He enrolled in an art correspondence course where he would send his work to Tokyo for critique.[1] In 1920 he had the opportunity to move there, but returned home to Shikoku after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. He moved back to Tokyo in 1925, where he worked for a printing company.[2] Azechi’s prints were noticed by Unichi Hiratsuka, who took him under his wing. He belonged to the Japan Print Association and the Kokugakai Arts Association.[3] After his works were shown in some of their exhibitions, he quit his job and became a freelance artist. During this time, he was heavily influenced by Maegawa Sempan [ja] and Kōshirō Onchi.[4] During World War II, Azechi was sent to Manchuria.[4] When he returned to Japan, he also immediately returned to making art. Azechi’s work was shown at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1953.[5] It was also shown at the Lugano International Print Biennial in 1956.[6] Azechi died on April 12, 1999. The Umetaro Azechi memorial museum opened in Uwajima in 2003.[7]
Est Current Value: $300
IMG_0464.jpg
IMG_0467.jpg