was a '' sōsaku-hanga'' artist in 20th-century

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In 1938, he issued his first prints in his now famous "Winter in Aizu" series. Saitō was one of the first Japanese

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

artists to have won at the São Paulo Biennale in 1951. Saitō's early works depict villages populated with local Japanese with a high degree of realism and three-dimensionality. His more mature works merge modern elements with Japanese tradition. His prints feature

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and plant life flattened in two-dimensionality. Saito's work is known for fusing artistic Eastern and Western ideas and styles. He was inspired and influenced by Western artists including

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

, Henry Matisse, and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

while also keeping to the long tradition of Japanese wood-block printmaking. He spent time in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and did a series there. Kiyoshi Saito's woodblock prints titled “Autumn” are considered extremely rare and valuable.

Pop Cultural Influence

Kiyoshi Saito's works have influenced a variety of art and film today including the animation,

Kubo and the Two Strings ''Kubo and the Two Strings'' is a 2016 American animated fantasy film directed by Travis Knight and written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, Roone ...

. Director Travis Knight has described the artist's blend of Western and Eastern influences in his artwork as inspiration for the film and said that Saito was the "key visual artist" in the artistic development of the Oscar Nominated Film. Influences from the artist's work can be seen subtly in Knight's animated film. One example of this is comparing Saito's print, Red Poppies (1948) to scenes in the movie where the main character encounters an underwater forest of monstrous, hypnotic eyeballs known as "The Garden of Eyes". When comparing the original art to the scenes in the film, Saito's influence can be clearly seen.

References

External links

Yanaizu Municipal Saito Kiyoshi Museum
of Yanaizu in the prefecture Fukushima

The Cats of Saito {{DEFAULTSORT:Saito, Kiyoshi Japanese printmakers 1907 births 1997 deaths Artists from Fukushima Prefecture Sosaku hanga artists

Pop Cultural Influence

Further reading

References

External links