Biography
Tomoo Inagaki (稲垣知雄, 1902–1980) was a leading sosaku-hanga printmaker whose bold depictions of cats became some of the most recognizable images in modern Japanese woodblock printing. Born in Tokyo in 1902, he came to printmaking largely as a self-taught artist: he was drawn to the creative-print movement in the early 1920s after encountering the work of Koshiro Onchi and Un'ichi Hiratsuka in the magazine Shi to hanga, and he supplemented his practice with training in commercial art under Hamada Masuji and drawing lessons with Shizuo Fujimori. He published his first prints in 1924 and exhibited that same year with the sosaku-hanga circle, drawn by the movement's insistence that the artist's hand should govern every stage of production.
Inagaki found his signature subject only after the Second World War, beginning to publish his cat designs around 1951. His cat prints — composed of stark black silhouettes against flat color backgrounds, with eyes reduced to luminous slits or wide circles — combined the graphic punch of modernist poster design with the intimacy of folk art. His studies of reclining, stretching, and prowling cats achieved immediate popularity and remained in demand throughout his career. The formal simplicity was deceptive; Inagaki's carving was precise and his printing demanded careful registration of multiple color blocks to achieve the velvety blacks and clean edges that defined his style.
Beyond cats, Inagaki produced prints of flowers, birds, landscapes, and architectural subjects, always working in a graphic, semi-abstract mode that emphasized flat planes of color and strong contour. His flower prints — chrysanthemums, morning glories, poppies — shared the decorative clarity of his animal work. He was also an accomplished designer who worked in commercial and advertising art for much of his career.
Inagaki became a member of the Nihon Hanga Kyokai in 1932 and exhibited widely in the postwar decades, including at international print biennials in Paris, Tokyo, and Lugano that helped introduce sosaku-hanga to Western audiences during the 1950s and 1960s. His prints are held by the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, among other institutions. He died in Tokyo in 1980 at the age of seventy-eight, leaving behind a body of work that demonstrated how the simplest subjects, rendered with graphic conviction and printmaking mastery, could achieve lasting power.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1902–1980
- Nationality
- 🇯🇵Japan
- Movement
- Sōsaku-hanga
- Works Indexed
- 61
Frequently Asked Questions
Tomoo Inagaki (稲垣知雄, 1902–1980) was a leading sosaku-hanga printmaker whose bold depictions of cats became some of the most recognizable images in modern Japanese woodblock printing. Born in Tokyo in 1902, he came to printmaking largely as a self-taught artist: he was drawn to the creative-print movement in the early 1920s after encountering the work of Koshiro Onchi and Un'ichi Hiratsuka in the magazine Shi to hanga, and he supplemented his practice with training in commercial art under Hamada Masuji and drawing lessons with Shizuo Fujimori. He published his first prints in 1924 and exhibited that same year with the sosaku-hanga circle, drawn by the movement's insistence that the artist's hand should govern every stage of production.
Tomoo Inagaki was active from 1902 to 1980. They were associated with the Sōsaku-hanga movement.
Tomoo Inagaki's work was shaped by the Sōsaku-hanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Sōsaku-hanga: ## What is sōsaku-hanga? Sōsaku-hanga (創作版画, "creative prints") was a twentieth-century Japanese print movement defined by a single commitment: the artist must design, carve, and print every work alone.
Original prints by Tomoo Inagaki can be found in collections including wbp, Honolulu Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museum, Legion of Honor.