
Kazuyuki Ohtsu (b. 1935) served for forty years as assistant to Kiyoshi
Saito, a woodblock artist at the forefront of the Sosaku Hanga movement.
Instead of the division of labor relied on by Hiroshige, Hokusai, andvirtually
every other Japanese printmaker who preceded them, the "creative print"
artists handled every step of the production of prints themselves. They
painted the original pictures, carved the woodblocks, and drew the prints.
The compositions of
Ohtsu often juxtapose a close-up botanical element in the foreground with series
of planes of color that lead into the back ground. For subjects, he eschews
modern urbanism and takes us to parks and still waters, occasionally rural
villages and temples. When human figures appear, they are small and anonymous.
His colors are elemental, deep, and true - expressive without
drama.
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