artist: Umetaro Azechi (Japanese 1902-1999)
medium: original wood block print
dimensions: 40 1/2 x 52 cm frame size (approx)
limited edition 30/100
hand signed by the artist in pencil, dated 53
plus artist's red seal in the image
* from the Umetaro Azechi Woodblock Print Portfolio ‘Yamaotoko’ (Mountain Man). Printed in 1993 the set revisited 6 classic Azechi works including this one ‘Heading to the Mountain’ plus 'Mountain Man’, 'In Front of the Stove’, 'Dead Tree and Mountain Man’, 'White Gloves' and 'Man Walking in the Mountains’. The edition waswas masterfully printed in by printmaker Yoshiaki Kobayashi and issued by the Umetaro Azechi Yamaotoko Publication Committee, and each print hand signed in pencil by Azechi.
presented in a new hand finished timber frame with two thick archival mat and backing and with non-reflective UV glass
AU $1925 (approx US $1360 / 1335 EUROS / 217,000 yen / 1155 GBP - for exact current conversion visit xe.com)
artist biography
Born to poor farmers in Uwajima in the far-flung Ehime prefecture of Shikoku, Umetaro Azechi (1902-1999) came from a humble background. Securing a job at a government printing company in Tokyo he soon developed a deep curiosity in the art of printmaking. Pursuing his newfound curiosity and passion, Azechi introduced himself to Unichi Hiratsuka, an established artist of the time, and became a member of the Sozaku-hanga print movement. Overtime he gained access to exhibitions, met other artists, and honed his own skills, eventually participating in major print biennales in Sao Paulo, Tokyo and Lugano. An avid mountaineer, Azechi is most famous for his mountain scenes, which can now be found in the Achenbach Foundation in San Francisco, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts or The British Museum in London.