1973 Spring Catalog

This woodblock print takes its title from a commercial or seasonal catalog, suggesting a work that engages with the visual language of print culture and everyday ephemera. Shibuya, working in Hokkaido during the early 1970s, often incorporated found imagery and text into compositions that blurred the line between fine art printmaking and graphic design. The title implies a grid-like or inventory structure, possibly featuring botanical motifs, fabric swatches, or commodity objects arranged in a cataloging format. Technically, the print likely employs multiple key blocks with flat color fields and precise registration, a method that allows crisp linear demarcation between pictorial elements. The work reflects a broader postwar Japanese interest in appropriating commercial visual vocabularies within the shaping hands of craft-based printmaking traditions.