About This Print
While Japanese gardens are a primary source of material for the artist, the word NIWA (庭), Japanese for garden, made its first appearance in Takahashi's 1977 print titled NIWA R (Garden R) and subsequently appeared in at least 97 print titles, the last being two prints published in 1993, each titled, simply, NIWA. Also see NIWA (80-K), NIWA (Movement) B2, NIWA (April) and NIWA (Winter Scenery), NIWA (Summer house) and NIWA (Sunshine) in this collection.
This print NIWA (Birth of the season), along with NIWA (Andante), was one of the first two prints of the artist's acquired by the British Museum. Lawrence Smith describes the print as having "sober tonalities."1
1 Rikio Takahashi, The Woodblock Prints, Abe Publishing Ltd., 1998, p. 12.
Wall Card from the Exhibition Three Masters of Abstraction
Hagiwara Hideo, Ida Shōichi and Takahashi Rikio
November 3, 2018 - March 24, 2019
Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205
Takahashi Rikio (1917–1998)
NIWA (Birth of the Season)
1978
Color woodblock print with embossing on paperLent by Irwin Lavenberg, L2017.103.21
Catalogue Raisonné Entry
#360 - Catalogue Raisonné
(Rikio Takahashi, The Woodblock Prints, published by Abe Publishing LTD., 1998)
(Rikio Takahashi, The Woodblock Prints, published by Abe Publishing LTD., 1998)
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #1471 |
| Title | NIWA (Birth of the season) 庭 (季節の誕生) |
| Series | NIWA |
| Artist | Takahashi Rikio (1917-1998) |
| Signature | Pencil signed by artist - Rikio Takahashi in English |
| Seal | none |
| Date | 1978 |
| Edition | 47 of 50 |
| Publisher | self-published |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | excellent - minor adhesive residue 4 spots verso and minor paper loss corners verso |
| Genre | sosaku hanga (creative print) |
| Miscellaneous | Niwa translates literally into Garden. |
| Format | |
| H x W Paper | 12 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (31.8 x 28.6 cm) |
| H x W Image | 9 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (24.1 x 21.6 cm) approximate size including artist notations |
| Collections This Print | British Museum 1981,0227,0.1 |
| Reference Literature | Catalogue Raisonné: Rikio Takahashi, The Woodblock Prints, published by Abe Publishing LTD., 1998, p. 159 number 360, color pl. p. 78. |
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