Lino Block

Lino Block refers to a linoleum-cut print rather than a traditional mokuhanga on cherry or katsura wood, reflecting Maekawa Senpan's willingness to experiment with materials outside the inherited woodblock tradition. Linoleum gained traction among sosaku-hanga artists in the early Showa period as a cheaper, softer alternative to wood, and Senpan, alongside contemporaries in the Nihon Sosaku Hanga Kyokai, used it for studies and small editions. The softer surface of lino encourages broader gouged strokes and rougher edges than a wood plank, producing the unpolished, hand-carved quality that Senpan favored throughout his career. Even when working in lino, he typically printed by hand with a baren on washi, preserving the tactile relationship between artist, block, and paper that defined the creative-print ethos. The work documents the technical curiosity that underpinned the movement's break from the publisher-driven hanmoto system of Edo-period ukiyo-e.