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A free platform for exploring Japanese woodblock prints from the shin-hanga, sosaku-hanga, and ukiyo-e traditions.

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Shiko Munakata
Kannon

Kannon by Shiko Munakata — Japanese Woodblock print, 1954

Kannon

by Shiko Munakata

Temples & Shrines Religious

Date:: 1954
Medium:: Woodblock print
Edition:: Self-printed
Source:: Honolulu Museum of Art

Typical Price

Major Buddhist figure print from Venice Biennale era (pre-1960): $20,000–$80,000
Fine signed Buddhist subject from peak period: $8,000–$30,000
Good condition Buddhist print: $2,000–$8,000

Description

Kannon — the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one of the most widely venerated figures in East Asian Buddhism — appears in this 1954 print as one of Munakata's most central and repeated sacred subjects. He returned to Kannon throughout his career, each engagement producing a different rendering of the compassionate one: now serene, now urgent, now hieratic, now startlingly immediate. The 1954 version comes from his mature period, when his international reputation was consolidating and his Buddhist imagery was reaching its fullest formal development. His Kannon had none of the sweet gentleness of traditional representations but an almost masculine force.

More Prints by Shiko Munakata

Flying Over the Mountains (Yamagoe), from the series "The Tale of the Auklet (Uto Hanga-kan)" by Shiko Munakata

Flying Over the Mountains (Yamagoe), from the series "The Tale of the Auklet (Uto Hanga-kan)"

1960

Woodblock print

Bodhisattva Manjusri (Monju bosatsu no saku), from the series Ten Great Disciples of the Buddha Sakyamuni (Shaka jûdai deshi), Shôwa period, undated (block carved 1948) by Shiko Munakata

Bodhisattva Manjusri (Monju bosatsu no saku), from the series Ten Great Disciples of the Buddha Sakyamuni (Shaka jûdai deshi), Shôwa period, undated (block carved 1948)

Shôwa period, 1926-1989

Woodblock print

Ragora (Rahula), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)" by Shiko Munakata

Ragora (Rahula), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)"

1939-68

Woodblock print

Ubari (Upali), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)" by Shiko Munakata

Ubari (Upali), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)"

1939 (printed 1955)

Woodblock print

More Temples & Shrines Prints

Fushimi Inari Temple by Takeji Asano

Fushimi Inari Temple

伏見稲荷

Woodblock print

The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"

c. 1832/38

Color woodblock print; oban

Temple with lanterns by Ito Nisaburo

Temple with lanterns

Woodblock print

A Section of the Byodo Temple at Uji (Uji Byodoin no ichibu), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)" by Kawase Hasui

A Section of the Byodo Temple at Uji (Uji Byodoin no ichibu), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"

Uji Byodoin no ichibu

1921

Color woodblock print; oban

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Sōsaku-Hanga: The Creative-Print Movement Meisho-e: Famous-Place Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Kannon was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in 1954.

Kannon depicts temples & shrines and religious.