Nativity
- Date:
- 1963
- Medium:
- Hand-colored stencil print on crumpled paper; edition 4/50
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
Dated 1963, the Nativity — executed on crumpled paper, from a limited edition of 50 — is among Watanabe's earliest editions of this most central Christian scene. The crumpled paper ground gives the print a warmth and physicality suited to the humble stable setting of the birth: the mother and child in a poor shelter, the night outside, the first visitors on their way from nearby fields. This early Nativity establishes the compositional approach he would return to repeatedly throughout his career, each version finding new tonal richness within the familiar arrangement.
More Prints by Sadao Watanabe
More Religious Prints
The Great Buddha, Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu)
Kamakura Daibutsu
1930
Color woodblock print
Hall of the Great Buddha (Nara Daibutsuden)
1950
Color woodblock print
Great Buddha
大仏
Woodblock print
Clearing after a Snowfall at the Kannon Temple in Asakusa (Asakusa Kannon no yukibare), from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)"
1926
Color woodblock print; oban
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nativity was created by Sadao Watanabe (渡辺禎雄) in 1963.
Nativity uses Stencil Print, on hand-colored stencil print on crumpled paper; edition 4/50.
Nativity depicts religious.