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| Artist: | Iwami Reika |
| Title: | Dawn of the Sea — 海の曙 |
| Series: | |
| Date of first edition?: | 1961 |
| Publisher (first edition)?: | Self |
| Publisher (this edition)?: | Self |
| Medium (first edition): | Woodblock |
| Medium (this edition): | Woodblock |
| Format (first edition): | Double Oban
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| Format (this edition): | Double Oban |
| DB artwork code: | 46517 |
| Notes (first edition)?: |
Title: Dawn of the Sea
Artist: Reika Iwami born 1927
Description: "Umi no Akebono" (Dawn of the Sea).
The materials and complicated printing technique for this design are fully described in Yoshida Toshi and Rei Yuki, Japanese Print Making, 1966, p. 101 (Plate 17) & 157.
Reika Iwami creates her rhythmical fluid world using natural wood grain patterns, glittering metallic leafs and mica. The viewers are enticed by the flowing streams, ocean tides and waves which seem to move in the eternal quietness.
Iwami's distinctive art works are in the collections of major museums in the world, such as the National Museum of Art in Osaka, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Library of Congress, Rockefeller Foundation.
Signature: "Reika Iwami" signed in pencil on the lower margin.
Seal: Artist's seal in red in the bottom right area of the image.
Dated: 1961.
Medium: Woodblock print.
Numbered: of 30
Width Item: 18.0 inches = 45.7 cm
Height Item: 24.4 inches = 61.9 cm
Width Image: 14.1 inches = 35.9 cm
Height Image: 21.5 inches = 54.7 cm |
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| Notes (this edition)?: |
| The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies:
Title: Dawn of the Sea
Artist: Reika Iwami born 1927
Description: "Umi no Akebono" (Dawn of the Sea).
Signature: "Reika Iwami" signed in pencil on the lower margin.
Seal: Artist's seal in red in the bottom right area of the image.
Dated: 1961.
Medium: Woodblock print.
Impression: Very good … Printed on a thick Japanese paper.
Colors: Very good … Mica is sprinkled generously.
Condition: Good … Light toning. Light foxing and discolorations. Light creases and slight soils on the margins.
Numbered: 2/30
Width Item: 18.0 inches = 45.7 cm
Height Item: 24.4 inches = 61.9 cm
Width Image: 14.1 inches = 35.9 cm
Height Image: 21.5 inches = 54.7 cm |
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| Artist Bio: |
Reika Iwami was born in 1927 and graduated from the Tokyo Bunka Gakuin Art College. She pursued the art of doll-making and doll-carving for eleven years, before becoming a printmaker in 1954.
Iwami is a rarity among woman woodblock artists in her avoidance of color. Solid, pure blacks are blended with finely textured grays and some metallic gold or silver. Large full moons often dominate her prints, with rocketlike gold thrusts piercing them in bold curves. Wavelike patterns like communication symbols sometimes bisect the circles. Sprinklings of powdered mica over the white areas give them impression of windblown sand. In the absence of brilliant colors, form and texture are strongly evident.
Her subject is water and flow, and her genius lies in the almost mystical ability of being able to transmute the grain and texture of pieces of wood into visual images of patterns of water. Her titles all reflect her preoccupation with this theme. She executes all phases of the printmaking, cutting the blocks, inking them and rubbing the paper. Influenced by her work with the Koshiro Onchi and Sekino Jun'ichiro.
She has held numerous one-woman shows throughout Japan and Europe, and has won prizes in several international print competitions. Her works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MOMA), Library of Congress, Cincinnati Art Museum, and the University of California.
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