Landscapes, Nature, & Seasons (風景・自然・季節)

Landscape and the changing seasons have been enduring subjects in Japanese printmaking for centuries. From the famous-place views of ukiyo-e to the atmospheric landscapes of shin-hanga, artists have repeatedly returned to mountains, rivers, coastlines, villages and gardens, often marking the passage of the year through blossom, summer greenery, autumn colour and snow. During the 20th century, the artists of the sōsaku-hanga movement brought a more individual approach, using landscape as a means of personal expression as well as a record of place.

This collection follows that tradition through modern and contemporary Japanese printmaking. Fumio Kitaoka’s landscapes are shaped by shifting light, season and memory; Koichi Sakamoto finds a quieter, more solitary Japan in snow-covered villages, fields and distant horizons; while Masao Ido and Katsuyuki Nishijima preserve the character of old streets, temples, rural houses and historic landscapes. In the work of artists such as Ray Morimura and Kunio Kaneko, familiar subjects including gardens, trees and Mount Fuji are reduced into pattern, flattened colour and bold graphic form.

Across woodblock, etching, mezzotint, silkscreen and other printmaking techniques, these works show how differently Japanese artists have interpreted the natural world. Some remain closely observed and rooted in a particular place; others move towards abstraction, using colour, texture and composition to suggest weather, atmosphere or the rhythm of a season. Together they trace a continuing strand of Japanese printmaking in which landscape and nature remain closely connected to ideas of place, memory and the passing of time.