Manten no hoshi (Stars of the Whole Sky)
- Date:
- 1967
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- British Museum
Description
"Manten no hoshi" (Stars of the Whole Sky) from 1967 is a late-career Munakata work that turns to the cosmic scale of the night sky filled with stars — a subject that aligned with both his Buddhist interest in infinite space and his later openness to subjects drawn directly from sensory experience. The stars of the whole sky as a subject asked for the opposite of the controlled, iconic figure: an expanse, a multiplicity, a field of scattered light that challenged his compositional instincts to find order in abundance. The result would be characteristic Munakata — finding in the night sky's profusion the same energy he found in a single carved figure.
More Prints by Shiko Munakata
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Manten no hoshi (Stars of the Whole Sky) was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in 1967.
Manten no hoshi (Stars of the Whole Sky) depicts landscapes, night scenes, and abstract.