Japanese Woodblock Prints (木版画)

From Sōsaku-hanga to Contemporary Mokuhanga

Woodblock printing has shaped Japanese visual culture for centuries, yet the works gathered here belong to its modern and continuing story. From the self-carved, self-printed ideals of the post-war sōsaku-hanga movement to contemporary artists working in mokuhanga today, these original Japanese woodblock prints reveal a medium continually renewed through bold colour, expressive grain, layered texture, and individual vision.

Woodblock printmaking lies at the heart of Kumo Arts. This collection brings together 20th- and 21st-century Japanese printmakers - from major modern artists such as Kaoru Kawano, Haku Maki, Fumio Kitaoka, and Akira Kurosaki to independent contemporary voices - spanning lyrical landscapes, abstraction, folklore, animals, and scenes of everyday life. Each work reflects the enduring possibilities of carved wood, paper, pigment, and pressure.