"Princess showing upper arm" — this 1958 woodblock print in ink on paper captures one of Munakata's characteristic female figures: a woman (here titled "princess") in a pose that combines dignity with an unexpected gesture of disclosure. The raised or revealed arm introduces a note of movement and intimacy into what might otherwise be a hieratic frontal figure. Munakata's women — which he carved throughout his career in increasing numbers — were simultaneously decorative and urgent, their simplified forms carrying the same fierce energy as his Buddhist figures while being entirely rooted in the human and sensual.
1960
Woodblock print
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
1939-68
Woodblock print
1939 (printed 1955)
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Princess showing upper arm was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in 1958.
Princess showing upper arm depicts figures, bijin-ga, and mythology.
Princess showing upper arm measures 25.3 × 18.6 cm.
