Masaaki Tanaka

Masaaki Tanaka is among the best-known Japanese print artists working today, a master of silkscreen and woodblock printmaking whose vibrant depictions of Japanese festivals have brought the energy and pageantry of these cultural events to collectors worldwide. Born in 1947 in Setagaya, Tokyo, into a family of artists, he graduated from Musashino Art University with a major in oil painting in 1971.

Following graduation, Tanaka served as an assistant instructor at Musashino for two years, during which time he honed his skills across multiple printmaking techniques, studying woodblock printmaking and stone lithography and teaching himself silkscreen, the medium that would become his primary vehicle. This combination of rigorous technical training and the international exposure his work later gained furnished him with an unusually broad artistic foundation.

Tanaka first participated in the prestigious CWAJ (College Women's Association of Japan) Print Show in 1971, and over subsequent decades earned international acclaim through exhibitions held worldwide. His primary subject matter is Japanese festivals, the matsuri traditions that animate communities across Japan with their processions, performances, and ritual objects. His silkscreen prints capture the color, movement, and communal spirit of these events with a vividness that has made his work irresistible to collectors. For ten years, one of his silkscreen prints appeared on the cover page of the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho, and the Japanese government presented one of his prints to President Ronald Reagan during a visit to Japan.

His work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Albrecht Fine Art Museum, among other institutions. He continues to produce limited-edition prints, typically in editions of about 100 copies, signed and numbered.