Gallery 4M: Kanamori Yoshio

The sosaku hanga artist Kanamori Yashio (1922-2016) first learned woodblock print making via a book on the subject by Nagase Yoshio. He later studied under the artist Munakata Shiko.

The first 22 woodblock prints in this gallery were attached to the covers for the minutes of Kanamori Yoshio’s group Kokankai. The group met two times a year over dinner to discuss Kanamori’s work and his developing career. Attendees to the meetings later received minute notes in a small booklet that included a print by the artist which was affixed to the cover. These were initially limited to the publication of 50 prints per meeting, but were gradually increased over the course of several years to a limit of 150 prints per meeting. Although the prints can stand on their own, they appear to have initially been conceptualized as ex libris prints to which the attendee could personally add their name. However, later prints were somewhat larger and associated with a change in the meeting minutes format. These later prints may have been intended as free standing miniatures. As none of the examples in the collection were converted to ex libris via the addition of names, they are presented here as simple miniatures. However, Kanamori Yoshio is well known for producing ex libris, many which can be seen in Gallery 12. As minute notes were often published months after the groups gathering, dates for these prints represent the date of publication and/or distribution of the prints rather than the meeting dates. The first few volumes of minutes did not indicate a name for the print. However, beginning with volume 5, the artist also included a poem, the title which referenced the theme of the print.