Stand on the Snow Gorge

Azechi was one of the Japanese artists to find success after World War II with a resurgence in the West’s appreciation of Japanese woodcuts. It was during this period that his style solidified into his characteristic angular figures printed in bold colors. His subjects are most often drawn from the sights and folk customs of his native mountains—snowmen, mountaineers and birds. There is a haunting but also playful quality to the eyes and the solidity of his figures that always enchants. A mountaineer himself, his love of the outdoors and the simple life shine through. The new Japanese printmakers came to the fore in the 1950s at the prestigious print exhibitions held in São Paulo, Brazil, where they garnered many of the top prizes, much to the surprise of the international competition. In stark contrast to the traditional ukiyo-e woodcuts, these new prints are simpler but more direct, with each step engineered by the artist himself, without the aid of a block cutter and master printer. (“Imprint/ In Print,” curated by Nancy E. Green with assistance from Christian Waibel ’17 and presented at the Johnson Museum August 8 – December 20, 2015)