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HAKU MAKI
(1924-2000)
"72-14 / Purple Grapes"
Rare Embossed 1972 Woodblock Print
Hand Signed Titled and Numbered
Pressing #96 of only 151 Produced
In Original 1972 Chrome Frame & Matching Color Matting
17"x 15" NO GLASS
Excellent Vintage Condition. See photos.
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HAKU MAKI (1924-2000) Maki Haku (??, 1924–2000) is the artistic name of Maejima Tadaaki, who was born in Ibaraki Prefecture. He was a s?saku-hanga artist in 20th Century Japan. During World War II, Maejima Tadaaki was trained as a kamikaze pilot in the Japanese air force, but the war ended before he was assigned a mission. Haku had no formal art training, but studied for two years with the s?saku-hanga artist Onchi K?shir? (1891–1955).
Two unique qualities of Maki Haku prints are the textures achieved by working the designs in wet cement and the use of Kanji (Chinese characters) as design motifs. In 1962, he started adding texture to his prints. At first, he added texture to the entire sheet after it was printed. In 1965, he began embossing designs into unprinted paper by using a press to transfer a design created in cement on a carved plywood board, and then adding color with stencils. He distorted and rearranged the strokes of Chinese characters to produce striking and serene images. For example, Poem 71-91 is a highly stylized representation of the kanji ?, which is pronounced mu and means nothingness, an important concept in some forms of Buddhism.
Maki was a versatile artist who often combined several techniques. He was first known for the use of Chinese characters or kanji. Starting with the original pictograph, he stylized the calligraphy into a bold statement, with an eye for its beauty and compositional possibilities. Maki often used cement on his woodblocks, which can be worked, when wet, into intriguing textures for embossing.
Later in his career, Maki shifted his focus to smaller works, with persimmons and other fruit, or ceramic teacups, bowls and bottles as the predominant themes. He still used the cement block technique allowing rich textural effects, creating a three-dimensional appearance.
In each of his nearly 2000 different prints, this modern Japanese master offers a very focused view of his subject. Backgrounds are of minor importance, and the subject dominates, whether kanji, persimmon, or ceramic.
He is one of the ten artists chosen for James Michener’s 1968 book, The Modern Japanese Print-- An Appreciation, and provided illustrations for Noah Brannen and William Elliott’s book, Festive Wine, a translation of ancient Japanese poems. In June 2007, Dan Tretiak published The Life and Works of Haku Maki examining his artistic themes over a long and distinguished career. This book was launched in conjunction with a special exhibit of 85 different Maki prints from all periods, held at the Ren Brown Collection in Bodega Bay. This outstanding book is now the authoritive source of information on Haku Maki The artist participated in the Tokyo International Print Biennale in 1957 and 1960. The book Festive Wine: Ancient Japanese Poems from the Kinkafu is a translation of 21 ancient poems called Kinkafu or Music for Wagon Songs. The translation is accompanied by Maki Haku's prints that were made in 1968–69. The Art Institute of Chicago, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are among the public collections holding prints by Haku Maki[
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