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, born in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, was a Japanese print-maker. He was the father of the '' sōsaku-hanga'' movement in twentieth century Japan, and a photographer. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the
1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...
.


Biography

Onchi came from an aristocratic family that had close connections with the imperial family. As a child, he received the same kind of education that a prince received. Onchi was trained in both traditional
calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...
and modern western art. After contacts with Takehisa Yumeji in 1909,Jinbo, "Onchi Kōshirō". between 1910 and 1915, he studied
oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
and
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (, ''Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō''). In 1912, he founded the print and poetry magazine called "Tsukubae". Onchi was also a book designer in the early days when it was impossible for '' sōsaku-hanga'' artists to survive by just doing creative prints. He designed over 1000 books in his career. In 1928 he joined with seven other sōsaku hanga artists to work on the '' 100 Views of New Tokyo'' series, to which he contributed thirteen prints. He was described as having the most "forceful personality" of the group, with the "widest intellectual interests and the deepest intellectual convictions." In 1939, he founded the First Thursday Society (, ''Ichimokukai''), which was crucial to the postwar revival of the ''sōsaku-hanga'' movement. The society held artist gatherings once a month in Onchi’s house. Members such as Gen Yamaguchi (1896–1976) and Sekino Jun'ichirō (1914–1988) discussed subjects of prints. The American connoisseurs Ernst Hacker, William Hartnett and Oliver Statler also attended. The First Thursday Collection (, ''Ichimoku-shū''), a collection of prints by members to circulate to each other, was produced in 1944. Through the First Thursday Society, Onchi provided aspiring young artists with resources and comradeship during the war years when resources were scarce and
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
severe. After the war, he emerged as the leader of the ''sōsaku-hanga'' movement that flourished in the international art scene.


Style and technique

Onchi's prints range from early representational to postwar abstract prints. As an early advocate of the '' sōsaku-hanga'' movement, Onchi believed that artistic creation originates from the self. He was more interested in expressing subjective emotions through abstract prints than in replicating images and forms in the objective world. His prints evoke lyrical and poetic mood. He said:
Art is not to be understood by the mind but by the heart. If we go back to its origin, painting is expressed in color and form by the heart, and it should never be limited to a world of reflected forms captured by visual sense. Therefore, expression of the heart through color and forms separated from color and form in the real world is that true realm of painting. I will for the time call this type of work the 'lyrique'.
Onchi innovated by incorporating fabrics, string, paper blocks, fish fins, and leaves in his prints. 'Portrait of Hagiwara Sakutarô', woodblock print by Onchi Kôshirô, 1943, 1st edition, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.jpg, ''Portrait of Sakutarō Hagiwara'', woodblock print, 1943 Onchi Dummkopf.jpg, ''Fool'', 1914 Onchi v d Spiegel.jpg, ''Before the Mirror'', 1928 Onich Tokyo CS.jpg, ''Tokyo Station'', between 1928 and 1932 Onchi Blüten.jpg, ''Cherry Blossom Time'', 1946 'Lyric No. 23' by Onchi Koshiro, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG, ''Lyric No. 23'', 1952


Photography

From around 1932, Onchi worked on the design of a number of books about photography published by Genkōsha () and Ars. He also became interested in photography. Through the 1930s and 1940s, Onchi worked in the spirit of '' shinkō shashin.'' He worked on plants, animals and ''objets,'' and also created
photogram A photogram is a Photography, photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The usual result is a negative shadow im ...
s.Jinbo, "Onchi Kōshirō". Onchi was sent to China in 1939 and later the same year returned to Tokyo and had an exhibition of his Chinese works. Onchi exhibited his photograms in 1951 but otherwise dropped out of photography. He died in Tokyo on 3 June 1955.


Collections

Onchi's works are held in several museums worldwide, including the
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The , also known as MOMAT, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. The museum, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and ''Nihonga'' artists. It has a bra ...
, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the
University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...
, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...
, the Smart Museum of Art, the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, the Portland Art Museum, the
Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...
, the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, the
Worcester Art Museum The Worcester Art Museum houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. The museum opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Its holdings include Roman mosaics, Europe ...
, the
Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
, and the
Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...
.


Notes


References

*Jinbo Kyōko (). "Onchi Kōshirō". In ''Nihon shashinka jiten'' () / ''328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers.'' Tokyo: Tankōsha, 2000. . *Swinton, Elizabeth de Sabato. ''The Graphic Art of Onchi Kôshirô: Innovation and Tradition''. New York: Garland Press, 1986.


External links


Onchi's works at Fine Arts Museums of San FranciscoBiography at British Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onchi, Koshiro Artists from Tokyo 1891 births 1955 deaths Sosaku hanga artists Art competitors at the 1932 Summer Olympics 20th-century Japanese photographers 20th-century Japanese printmakers