Akira Kurosaki - 不可思議な夜 (Mysterious Night)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Woodblock Print

A fabulous print by Akira Kurosaki: 不可思議な夜 (Mysterious Night). Printed in a corner-to-corner diamond format, this 1972 composition is built from sharply defined planes of black, vermilion, & pink, with suspended spheres that introduce a sense of depth and quiet instability. The title suits it well: Kurosaki creates a space that feels nocturnal, abstract, and slightly enigmatic, while retaining the crisp geometric structure with the surreal visual language for which he is well known. 🌙✨

• Year & Edition: 1972 · Ed. of 100 (1/100) (signed & titled in pencil to plate).
• Medium: Woodblock. 8 blocks, 11 colours - printed on Echizen Torinoko paper.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 31.50 cm × W: 31.50 cm (Image H: 25.75 cm × W: 25.75 cm).
• Condition: Fabulous given age. Deep rich colours, Paper crisp & intact. Faint toning.
• Notes: Raisonné No. 139, (W134). 黒崎彰の全仕事 (The Complete Works of Akira Kurosaki: Catalogue Raisonné 1965-2006). Two further variant designs were printed in series in addition to this design - Mysterious Night A & B (W135A & 135B). 
  

About the Artist

Akira Kurosaki (1937-2019) was a pioneering mokuhanga artist who fused traditional Japanese woodblock techniques with bold abstraction and surreal landscapes, rendered in his signature deep reds, purples and blacks. A graduate of the Kyoto Institute of Technology and devoted to the sōsaku hanga ethos - overseeing every stage of production himself - he earned the Florence Biennale Gold Prize and Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure. From 1987 he taught and led the Printmaking Department at Kyoto Seika University, mentoring a generation of printmakers; his work is held by the British Museum, MoMA and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. [ ← View All Works by Akira Kurosaki]