Abstract Prints (2049)
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
UCHI TO SOTO TO (Inside Outside)
Woodblock print
Youth
Woodblock print
Blue wind
Woodblock print
Pendant
Woodblock print
Work 67.1
Woodblock print
WORK - 466
2019
Woodblock
WORK - 496
2023
Woodblock
Form 77 Ice Coffin Svalbard
2022
Etching, aquatint
WORK - 437
2015
Woodblock
Capriccio of the Four Seasons No. 3
1996
Woodblock Print
Work
1984
Oil on canvas
Work
1981
Oil on canvas
Space-time 36
1985
Aquatint
Transformation of Cutie
2013
Oil on canvas
Space and Space Nature 1314
2013
Lithograph
Space and Space Nature 1610
2016
Lithograph
Verse Space M I-IV (four works)
2006
Lithograph and stencil on Somerset
Red Monochromatic Abstract Woodblock Monoprint of a Web of Trees Landscape
1974
Monoprint; woodcut print
Roof Tile Composition
1991
Woodblock Print
Composition number 993
1988
Color screenprint and woodcut, with mica ink.
Dance Song No. 5; Dance Song No. 7
Two color woodcuts
Fall Firework
2018
Mezzotint
Fall Fireworks
2019
Mezzotint
Preserving Light
2016
Lithograph
"Involution - Union 4B" Original Large-Scale Abstract Woodcut by Kazumi Amano
1976
Ink on Paper (Woodblock)
untitled
2024
Oil on Dibond
Untitled:Orbit
2025
Oil on Dibond
Diary of Dreams: Fall Into Space
2020
Gesso, oil, gold leaf, paper on wooden panel
Spatial Fragment 3
2015
Ink and color on paper
Untitled
2000
Oil on prepared paper, image size is 8 1/2 x 11 in. floating within a white field of paper
Trace 11-53
2011
Oil,Charcoal,Hemp paper on Panel
Trace 21-25
2021
Oil and Charcoal on canvas
Trace 21-26
2021
Oil and Charcoal on Canvas
Trace 21-37
2021
Oil and Charcoal on Canvas
Trace 23-08
2023
Oil and Charcoal on canvas
Trace-67
2011
Oil and charcoal
Abstract #3
2010
Chinese brush painting
Abstract #4
2010
Chinese Brush Painting
Abstract #6
2010
Chinese Brush Painting
My Space and My Dimension-832
1983
Silkscreen background printed with mica and reusable woodblock cutouts
Blue Shadow
1995
Reverse painting on glass
Blue Shadow
1995
Reverse painting on glass
"Birthmark" Abstract Lithograph
1968
Lithograph
Between Air and Water No. 2
1992
Color soft ground and hard ground etching with aquatint and drypoint printed on gampi paper chine colle
Between Air and Water No. 6
1992
Color soft and hard ground etching with spit bite aquatint and drypoint printed on gampi paper chine collé
No. 4 & No. 5
1989
Etchings
Three works from the Well from Karma series
1989
Etching and drypoint in colors with chine colle
Yagura No.1
1993
Offset Lithograph
Space Boy
2021
Color Lithograph ( Produced in Collaboration with Jungle Press Editions)
Space Boy
2021
Lithograph
Transformation
1997
Etching and box for book
Dark Light
2020
Mokuhanga (Japanese watercolour woodblock) on handmade Washi Paper
Dark Light I
Mokuhanga (Japanese watercolour woodblock) on handmade Washi Paper
Dark Light II
2020
Mokuhanga (Japanese watercolour woodblock) on handmade Washi Paper
Untitled
Mokuhanga (Japanese water-based woodcut) mounted on wood panel with archival Nori paste
Fragmentary #2
2023
Oil-based woodcut on Paper
Red Fireworks
2021
Mezzotint
Window No. 1
2006
Mezzotint with gold leaf
collection of five works
Engraving with aquatint on paper
Untitled
1955
Oil on canvas
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 2049 prints tagged with abstract, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.