Sadao Watanabe - 聖母子 (A Modern Madonna)

A fabulous print by Sadao Watanabe: 聖母子 (A Modern Madonna). The Virgin and Child are captured together in luminous colour, with their patterned floral robes and golden haloes set against striking yellow and green bands. Printed on richly textured momi-gami paper, this 1979 kappazuri stencil work radiates vivid colour and devotional strength. ✝️🎨

• Year & Edition: 1979 · Edition 39/100 (signed & editioned in white ink).
  
• Medium: Stencil print (kappazuri) on momi-gami paper.
  
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 57.00 cm × W: 44.50 cm.
  
• Condition: Wonderful colour intensity; clean, intact sheet.
  
• Notes: One of Watanabe’s powerful Madonna & Child compositions, distinguished by its banded backdrop and finely patterned detail. A luminous example of his kappazuri stencil style on traditional handmade paper.

About the Artist

Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996) was Japan’s foremost Christian printmaker, celebrated for bold 合羽摺 (kappa-zuri) stencil prints on textured momigami paper. A student of 芹沢銈介 Keisuke Serizawa and shaped by 柳宗悦 Yanagi Sōetsu’s mingei movement, he devoted his career to retelling Old and New Testament stories through striking elongated figures and rich pigments of colour, drawing on 型染め (katazome) dye-resist techniques. Particularly collectable, his works are widely held, with examples at MoMA, the British Museum, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT), and the Vatican. [ ← View All Works by Sadao Watanabe]