TANAKA RYOHEI

Tanaka Ryōhei (1933-2019) is a Japanese graphic artist who mastered the intaglio printing technique of etching (Japanese: dōban), which originated in the West. His mostly monochrome prints depict traditional thatched farmhouses, temples and landscapes of Japan in poetic beauty and gentle melancholy. The textures of thatch, wood, stone and other natural materials are rendered in a perfect manner and with exceptional precision.

Tanaka's career spanned over fifty years, during which he created more than 770 different etchings. The total number of prints amounts to over 100,000 copies, which he published himself. This makes him one of the most productive artists of his generation.

Tanaka's etchings occupy an exceptional position in Japanese printmaking, a tradition dominated by colour woodblock prints. Like the artists of the creative Sōsaku-hanga movement, who emphasised the individual creative power of the artist himself, Tanaka took over every single step of the printing process, from the design to the processing of the copper plate to the printing itself.

Thematically, on the other hand, his works are close to the nostalgic and romanticised woodcuts of Shin-hanga artists, but require close observation and a meditative approach to the respective motif.

With 170 works, From Line to Landscape is the first exhibition of Tanaka Ryōhei's oeuvre in Germany. 14 precious etchings have been donated to the collection of the Museum of East Asian Art by Tanaka Takiko, wife of the printmaker who died five years ago.