Lyrique No. 19

Date:: 1952
Medium:: Paper print
Edition:: Self-printed
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Museum-quality abstract Poem series composition: $30,000–$100,000+
Fine signed Poem or abstract work: $8,000–$30,000
Good condition abstract print: $2,000–$8,000

Description

"Lyrique No. 19" of 1952, executed in paper print technique, belongs to Onchi's late abstract series — numbered compositions that treated printmaking as a form of visual music, each work corresponding to an emotional or musical state rather than a representational subject. By "paper print" Onchi meant a technique in which textured paper itself became a printing block, pressed against the final paper support to produce soft, organic marks impossible with carved wood. This technical innovation, developed in his last decade, gave his late abstractions their characteristic quality of atmospheric softness.