Abstract Prints (2023)
Abstract prints represent a revolutionary departure in Japanese printmaking, emerging primarily through the sosaku-hanga (creative prints) movement of the mid-twentieth century. While traditional ukiyo-e and shin-hanga were rooted in representational imagery, abstract works embraced non-figurative composition, exploring color, texture, and form for their own expressive potential. The abstract turn in Japanese printmaking gained international recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, when artists like Yoshida Hodaka, Maki Haku, and Tajima Hiroyuki won major prizes at the Sao Paulo and Venice Biennales. These artists developed distinctive approaches to abstraction — from Maki's layered cement-and-ink surfaces to Tajima's vibrant geometric compositions — that drew on Japanese aesthetic principles while engaging with global modernist movements. The woodblock medium proved uniquely suited to abstract expression, offering possibilities for textural experimentation through woodgrain impression, selective inking, and the interaction between handmade washi paper and carved surfaces. Many abstract printmakers exploited the material qualities of the block itself, allowing the wood's natural grain to become an active compositional element rather than merely a vehicle for an image.
Artists Known for Abstract
Poem - 7, Shôwa period,
Woodblock print
Popox, Shôwa period, dated 1964
Woodblock print
Arugori; Koronbusu no tamago (Allegory: Columbus's Egg) / Ichimoku-shu (First Thursday Collection, Vol 4)
![[abstract composition with diagonal woodgrain] by Gen Yamaguchi](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135949.jpg)
[abstract composition with diagonal woodgrain]
20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper
Constellation 73-7, Shôwa period,
Woodblock print
Play Ground (2), Shôwa period, dated 1964
Woodblock print
Midnight, Shôwa period, dated 1959
Woodblock print
Poem 68-55, Shôwa period, 1968
Woodblock print
Abstract Composition (Blue)
抽象 (青)
1968
Color woodblock print
Brown Wall, Shôwa period, dated 1971
Woodblock print
Composition No. 7: Yellow Book
1954
Woodblock and object print
Jazz, Shôwa period, dated 1954
Woodblock print
Harvard University, Shôwa period, 1975
Woodblock print
Mask (12)
Woodblock print
![Fantasy in White (1) (Shiro no genso [1]) by Hideo Hagiwara](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/78ba1ff1-87e2-67d6-938b-8144016f4850/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Fantasy in White (1) (Shiro no genso [1])
白の幻想
Abstract
125/150, 1975
Woodblock print
Composition No. 2: Character
Woodblock print
Abstraction, Shôwa period, circa 1960
Woodblock print
Abstract bird in forest
Woodblock print
Mirror, from the series "Eight Women of Modern Times (Imayo fujin hattai no uchi)"
1929
Color woodblock print; edition 12/80
Utamaro's Stylish Patterns (Ryuku moyu Utamaro gata) : Komurasaki and Gonpachi
![[Abstract design] by Ansei Uchima](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/122761.jpg)
[Abstract design]
20th century
Color on paper
Abstract
Woodblock print
abstract, face
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [abstract image in yellow and black] by Hiroyuki Tajima](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135741.jpg)
Title unknown [abstract image in yellow and black]
1964
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Unknown, abstract 1
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [Abstract image with lines] by Toko Shinoda](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135627.jpg)
Title unknown [Abstract image with lines]
1968
Lithograph, ink on paper (?)
Abstraction
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [Abstract bird] by Umetaro Azechi](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135649.jpg)
Title unknown [Abstract bird]
1960
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
abstract, face
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [Abstract flower] by Maki Haku](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/132346.jpg)
Title unknown [Abstract flower]
1950s–1960s
Woodblock print, mounted as a hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
![Title unknown [abstract image with geometric shapes] by Maki Haku](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/132360.jpg)
Title unknown [abstract image with geometric shapes]
1950s–1960s
Woodblock print, mounted as a hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Abstract cityscape
1955
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Synchromy I
1967
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Lonely Song
20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Kyorai (Past and Future)
Woodblock print
Wind
1964
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Impression
2010
Color woodblock print
Nostalgia in Black (Kuro no nosutaruji)
20th century
Color woodblock print
SUBURU (The Pleiades)
Woodblock print
Pantomorphic
1970
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Move and Sway
Woodblock print
Space
Contemporary, 1969
Woodblock print
Kyoto Series, No. 33
1966
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Untitled
Fragments III
1993
Lithograph on paper
Tranquillity- Blue
Woodblock print
Unearth
1965
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Nest H
1966
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Composition 63-A
20th century
Color woodblock print; edition 20/50
Impression of an Arab
1958
Color woodblock print; edition 44/50
Banshoku zuko, one vol. of 5 published
n.d.
Book; woodblock printed
Traffic
1955
Color woodblock print
Nocturne
1955
Color woodblock print
Tranquility: Blue
1959
Color woodblock print
To North by F
1971
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Dilapidated Poetry A
Woodblock print
Seasonal (B)
1970
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Composition P
1958
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Tomorrow
1972
Color woodblock print; edition 8/50
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Abstract prints represent a revolutionary departure in Japanese printmaking, emerging primarily through the sosaku-hanga (creative prints) movement of the mid-twentieth century. While traditional ukiyo-e and shin-hanga were rooted in representational imagery, abstract works embraced non-figurative composition, exploring color, texture, and form for their own expressive potential.
Maki Haku, Onchi Koshiro, and Nana Shiomi are among the artists most associated with abstract in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 2023 prints tagged with abstract, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.