The exhibition "60 Contemporary Japanese Prints", celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, is the outcome of a joint initiative between the Yoseido Gallery, Tokyo, and the Tikotin Museum. On this festive occasion we are delighted to exhibit works by sixty of the finest contemporary Japanese print artists. Fifty-seven artists decided to donate their works to the Museum collection at the close of the exhibition and the Yoseido Gallery donated the remaining three works to the Museum.
Modern Japanese art is essentially cosmopolitan because of the speed of information acquisition, the artists’ travels, and the international exhibitions in which the artists participate. Every artist attempts in their works to reflect their natural exposure to things of the spirit, to current international art trends, and their personal approach to their environment, concretizing events in their own artistic ‘vocabulary’. Naturally, the works in this exhibition are expressions of a broad range of subjects and styles.
As Japanese art encountered that of the West, its graphic medium changed. New methods of expression reached Japan at the end of the 19th century, such as lithography, silkscreen, etching and engraving. These were added to the traditional techniques of stencil and woodblock prints, which had a long and glorious history in Japan but ceased to be the predominant art form. Nonetheless, traditional Japanese art and notions were not discarded in favour of the new - contemporary art is a synthesis of the heritage from home and external influences. Much like their counterparts in the West, Japanese print artists are seeking their way in the art of current international printmaking, both in content and in medium.