Konishi Seiichiro

Konishi Seiichirō (小西誠一郎) was a Japanese printmaker of the sōsaku-hanga (creative print) movement, born in Kyoto in 1919. He first trained as a painter, studying oil painting and design under the Western-style painter Igaki Kahei (1892-1970), and was largely self-taught in woodblock technique. Working in the sōsaku-hanga manner, he designed, carved and printed his own blocks, favouring strong forms built up from flat areas of colour rather than a printed key-block outline. He is reported to have come under the influence of the leading sōsaku-hanga artist Munakata Shikō during the 1950s.

Konishi began exhibiting his prints in the early 1950s and showed with several of the modern print and painting societies of the day, among them the Japan Print Academy (Banga-in), the New Production Association (Shin Seisaku Kyōkai) and the Independent Fine Art Association (Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyōkai), as well as in one-man and group exhibitions in Japan and abroad. His subjects centre on the traditional architecture, famous sites and natural scenery of his native Kyoto, alongside landscapes, temple views, figure studies and still lifes.

His most recent recorded print dates to 1983; his later life is not documented in the standard sources, and no death date has been reliably established.