Sadao Watanabe Stencil Print - Eve - 1965

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Holiday Sale - Antiquities / Ethnographic Art...

By Artemis Gallery

Dec 12, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-12-12 10:00:00 2019-12-12 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Holiday Sale - Antiquities / Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/holiday-sale---antiquities-ethnographic-art-4743
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• Lot Description
  **Holiday Shipping Deadlines**
  USA Domestic: 12/14 for Standard; 12/23 for Express
  International: 12/7 for Standard; 12/19 for Express
  
  Sadao Watanabe (Japanese, 1913-1996). "Eve" stencil print, numbered 21/50, 1965. Numbered, signed, and dated in white pigment at lower edge of the image. A large composition by Sadao Watanabe depicting Eve kneeling, peering up at the serpent's head, and raising one hand, all rendered in the Japanese mingei (folk art) tradition with his signature bold expressive style. All is delineated in a beautiful color palette - red, yellow, green, black, and white against a blue ground. A fabulous example by this Japanese Christian artist whose biblical prints have been exhibited in major museums throughout the world, including the Vatican and the Louvre. Size: 22.5" W x 26" H (57.2 cm x 66 cm); 28" W x 33.375" H (71.1 cm x 84.8 cm) including mount
  
  Watanabe used momigami (kneaded paper) for this piece - the paper carefully crumpled by hand, squeezed, and wrinkled to create a wonderful effect. In addition, his katazome method incorporated traditional organic and mineral pigments in a soybean milk medium. Interestingly, the protein in the milk binds the hues to the surface of the paper. Using natural materials is among the primary characteristics of mingei (folk art).
  
  Sadao Watanabe, born in Tokyo in 1913, was baptized Christian in 1930 and throughout his career, the artist based his compositions exclusively on biblical subjects. This said, the Christian stories and figures of his works are interpreted via traditional Japanese techniques. Watanabe took part in the folk-art movement in Japan which began in the 1930's as an attempt to preserve various traditional arts, among them stencil printing which Watanabe appreciated. Watanabe and Yoshitoshi Mori were the best-known 'sosaku hanga' artists who used the medium called kappazuri (stencil printing), a technique related to 'katazome' (stencil dyeing) which originated in Okinawa (the technique there was called 'bingata').
  
  Provenance: private Donna Stockton collection, Colorado, USA; purchased at a traveling exhibition held at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Granite Springs, New York, USA, ca. 1965-1967
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #150821

  Condition

  Print is attached to a canvas-covered board - adhesive is only used along the upper edge. The woodblock is in excellent condition with strong imagery and coloring. Numbered, signed, and dated in white pigment at lower edge of the image. Some staining to the canvas covered board, but not affecting the print.
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