(6) Watanabe Sadao Sosaku-Hanga Print Katazome Japanese Stencil Card Signed

Description

Card given directly from Watanabe to family members.
Original Sosaku-Hanga print by Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996). The illustration on the front of the card shows abstract depiction of the Three Wise Kings and Mary sitting over newborn baby Jesus. The front illustration is composed of blue, yellow, black and pink color blocks. Red seal from artist on the bottom right of the front of the card. Separate sheet inserted in fold over card with red block stripes and handwritten personalized note from the artist with signature in both English and Japanese.
Folded card measures approximately 7.75" in width and 7.75" in height.
Artist Biography:
Sadao Watanabe was born in 1913 in Ushigome, Tokyo. He was brought up in Tokyo and lived there all of his life. His home was near Tokada-no-baba station. His workshop was in his home and all of the work was completed there. His father died at the age of 43 in 1923 at which time Sadao was ten years old. They lived in various places during this period of time and when they were living in Yotsuya, one of their neighbors invited Sadao to church-- the Ichigaya Daimachi Church. His first reactions to Christianity were negative. "In the beginning I had a negative reaction to Christianity. The atmosphere was so full of 'the smell of butter' so foreign to a Japanese." However, he attended church every Sunday and through the efforts of the pastor he soon learned the teachings of the Bible. Soon his mother was also attending church. On September 7, 1930, he was baptized.
After the death of his father, Sadao quit school and started to work in order to support himself. He was an apprentice to a dyer and gradually he learned the technique of Katazome (stencil printing). He met Keizuke Serizawa the leading folk art print master. Serizawa had discovered the technique of stencil printing that had been done in the Okinawan Islands.Traditionally, the stencil was put on a cloth, but it was Serizawa who started to utilize it with paper. While learning the stencil technique from Serizawa, Sadao gradually developed his work centering upon the Biblical message and drama. In 1943, he exhibited his first Biblical print, "The Story of Abraham" at an exhibition of the Tokyo Prefectural Craftsmen.
Katazome is a unique craft of dyeing textiles through cut-out paper patterns. Watanabe employs this technique to create unusual stencil prints on Japanese paper. After applying natural dyes on rice paper, which are fixed with an ingredient from the astringent persimmon, he washes the paper. Then after putting rice paste on the stencil, he applies the natural color and washes the paper again.
In 1947, the first National Exhibition of Folk Art was held at the Folk Art Museum in Komaba, Japan. He participated with the "Story of Ruth". It was a black and white print in which the story of Ruth and Naomi was carefully depicted-- it began his interpretive journey of Biblical prints. The work was highly commended by Keizuke Serizawa. Watanabe became the first recipient of the Japan Folk Art Museum Award.
In 1985, he had completed 380 prints, 80 dealt with the old testament and 280 with the new testament. The remainder are of Biblically related stories. By 1985, he had already completed 11 different prints of Noah, 15 of the Three Wisemen, and 20 of the Last Supper.
Check our online store for more original Wantanabe pieces.
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