Biography
Obata Tsutomu is a Japanese printmaker born in 1936 who contributed to the landmark 'One Hundred Views of Tokyo: Message to the 21st Century' portfolio, a collaborative project organized by the Japan Print Association between 1989 and 1999. His color woodblock print 'Inside Scene of Kabukiza' captures the interior of the famous Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo's Ginza district, one of the most important venues for traditional kabuki performances in Japan.
The 'One Hundred Views of Tokyo' portfolio brought together one hundred views of the capital by leading contemporary Japanese printmakers, each interpreting a distinctive scene, echoing Hiroshige's historic 'One Hundred Famous Views of Edo' while presenting a late-twentieth-century vision of Tokyo. Obata's contribution is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1936
- Nationality
- 🇯🇵Japan
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Subjects
- LandscapesKabukiTheater
- Works Indexed
- 1
Frequently Asked Questions
Obata Tsutomu is a Japanese printmaker born in 1936 who contributed to the landmark 'One Hundred Views of Tokyo: Message to the 21st Century' portfolio, a collaborative project organized by the Japan Print Association between 1989 and 1999. His color woodblock print 'Inside Scene of Kabukiza' captures the interior of the famous Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo's Ginza district, one of the most important venues for traditional kabuki performances in Japan.
Obata Tsutomu was active born in 1936. They were associated with the Contemporary Mokuhanga movement.
Obata Tsutomu'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.
Obata Tsutomu's prints frequently feature landscapes, kabuki, theater.
Original prints by Obata Tsutomu can be found in collections including Art Institute of Chicago.