Kiyoshi Saito (1907 – 1997) was born in a small town on the island of Honshu, in Fukushima. When he was five years old his father lost his business in Fukushima, and his family moved north to the island of Hokkaido. During this time, his father worked in the coal mines in Otaru. After moving, when Kiyoshi Saito was thirteen years old, his mother passed away and he was sent away to live at a Buddhist temple. He didn’t much care for this and would do anything he could to try and leave.
After leaving the temple he moved back to Hokkaido, where he apprenticed as a sign painter. He would then start his own sign painting business before the age of twenty. Although he had reached a moderate level of financial success with his business, his dream was to become a fine artist and painter. Saito then decided to abandon his sign painting business in Hokkaido and moved to Tokyo to study painting and illustration during the evening at the Hongo Painting Institute.
While studying art in Tokyo, he started another sign painting business and later began working for the Asahi newspaper to support himself and pursue his artistic career. Through this job he became close friends with the artist Shiko Munakata. Munakata was, and is, regarded as one of the great woodblock print artists of his time. Because of Saito’s relationship to Munakata, he began to gain an interest in Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock prints) and he began to study the medium on his own and incorporate it into his own artist practice.
Today, Saito is considered one of the great artists of the 20th century Sōsaku-hanga (Creative Print) movement, a movement characterized by mokuhanga artists’ desire to have complete control over the design and creation of their works. During this time artists would often complete the printmaking process themselves without the assistance of a separate carver or a printer. His woodblock prints are often instantly recognizable for their unique visual qualities. They often feature architectural or figurative motifs presented in geometric forms with muted colors and a rich woodgrain texture.
We hope that you enjoy this collection of beautiful woodblock prints by Kiyoshi Saito that have arrived at the gallery just in time to make a special gift for the holiday season. If you would like to inquire about anything in the exhibition, please email us at vernecollection@gmail.com or call the gallery at 216-231-8866.
Happy Holidays,
The Verne Gallery Team
