Suwa Kanenori (1897–1932) was a Japanese painter and
woodblock print
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
artist associated with the
sōsaku hanga ("creative print") movement.
Born 1897, he spent his youth in
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, and started printing from the age of sixteen. In 1914 he moved to Tokyo to study at the
Hongo Painting Institute.
From 1920 his prints appeared in ''Yomigaeri'' magazine, which brought him to the attention of
Un'ichi Hiratsuka, one of the leaders of sōsaku hanga movement, and
Fukazawa Sakuichi whom he tutored in the craft. In 1921 he exhibited with the
Sosaku Hanga Kyokai and in 1923 released his set of prints ''Suwa Kanenori surie awase'' (roughly translated as "Grinding the rough edges").
He became a member of the Nippon Sosaku Hanga Kyokai in 1928 and participated in the ''
One Hundred Views of New Tokyo
''One Hundred Views of New Tokyo'' (''新東京百景, Shin Tōkyō Hyakkei'') was a series of Japanese woodblock printing, woodblock prints created from 1928 to 1932 by eight artists of the sōsaku hanga "creative print" movement.
The artists ...
'' series, to which he contributed twelve prints, "notable for their spiky, stark quality."
, a friend of Suwa's who worked with him on the series, remarked that his prints had "a feeling of poetry, perhaps because he was a great poet all his life."
He worked as a designer for
Shiseido
is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world and ...
, the cosmetics company, from June 1921 until his death in 1932 of appendicitis.
References
* Smith, Lawrence, ''Modern Japanese Prints 1912–1989: Woodblocks and Stencils'', BMP, London, 1994, p. 35 and no. 9.
* Merritt, Helen, and Yamada, Nanako, ''Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints 1900–1975'', University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1992, p. 139.
* Kamon, Yasuo, Tozaka, Koji, and Asahi, Akira, ''Shin Tokyo hyakkei'', Heibonsha
External links
ukiyo-e.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanenori, Suwa
1897 births
1932 deaths
Japanese printmakers
Sosaku hanga artists