Untitled

This untitled woodblock print by Austrian mokuhanga artist Manfred Egger reflects the contemporary international practice of the Japanese water-based woodblock technique. Untitled works in mokuhanga frequently emphasize the material qualities of the medium itself — the absorbency of washi, the tonal range achievable through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations, and the registration marks ([kento](/glossary/kento)) that record each pass of the [baren](/glossary/baren). Without a descriptive title to anchor the imagery, viewers are directed toward formal qualities: the relationship between inked and unprinted areas, the grain of the woodblock as a visible texture, and the layered transparency that distinguishes water-based printing from oil-based Western relief methods. Egger's selection for the juried exhibition at the 2021 International Mokuhanga Conference in Nara — themed around sumi, the traditional Japanese black ink — situates this print within a generation of European practitioners adapting the centuries-old technique to non-narrative, often abstract concerns. The Austrian context distinguishes Egger's work from the figurative [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) tradition, aligning instead with the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) (creative print) lineage in which the artist designs, carves, and prints the work themselves.