Biography
Donald Groscost is an American artist who has maintained a studio in New York City for over thirty-five years, creating mokuhanga prints distinguished by their collaboration with Kyoto-based master printer Kitamura Shoichi. Splitting his time between Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the Catskill Mountains of New York, Groscost brings a contemplative, image-driven sensibility to the traditional Japanese woodblock medium.
Groscost's working method represents an unusual and productive model of East-West collaboration in contemporary mokuhanga. He creates the original images, which are then separated into woodblocks, carved, and printed in multiple tones of sumi ink by master printer Kitamura Shoichi, an accomplished carver and printer from Kyoto, Japan. The prints incorporate embossment applications -- karazuri -- that add tactile dimension to the graphic clarity of the sumi ink impressions. This collaborative approach echoes the historical division of labor in ukiyo-e production, where artist, carver, and printer each contributed specialized skills to the final work, updated for contemporary artistic practice.
His prints are published through the Mokuhanga Project Space in Walla Walla, Washington, where his work "Flashback, November 1 2017" (2022) was produced as an edition of thirty-eight on Echizen Hongusa Torinoko washi paper. The print was separated into sixteen woodblocks with thirty-five tones of sumi ink and four embossment applications, demonstrating the extraordinary complexity and refinement possible through traditional mokuhanga methods.
Beyond his printmaking practice, Groscost has had a distinguished career as an educator, teaching as an Instructor of Fine Arts and Art History at Caldwell College and Brookdale College, and serving as visiting artist at several universities, colleges, and museums throughout the United States and abroad. His work has been exhibited and collected in the United States, South America, Asia, Indonesia, Australia, and Europe, reflecting the broad international reach of his artistic career.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇺🇸United States
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Works Indexed
- 4
Frequently Asked Questions
Donald Groscost is an American artist who has maintained a studio in New York City for over thirty-five years, creating mokuhanga prints distinguished by their collaboration with Kyoto-based master printer Kitamura Shoichi. Splitting his time between Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the Catskill Mountains of New York, Groscost brings a contemplative, image-driven sensibility to the traditional Japanese woodblock medium.
Donald Groscost's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Donald Groscost's prints frequently feature sumi ink, abstract.
Donald Groscost is a contemporary printmaker whose work has been acquired by museum collections, confirming institutional recognition. Museum representation supports collector confidence. Prices range from $200 for smaller works to $5,000 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $500–$2,000 range. Museum-collected contemporary printmakers represent a strong value proposition, as institutional validation often precedes market appreciation.
