April 1905
1905
Hashiguchi Goyō, who would later become a superstar of the 'shin-hanga' (new print) movement for his gorgeous portraits of women, started out with bold graphic designs like this 1905 magazine cover. Titled for the publication 'Sketch' (Suketto), the piece features a bearded man deeply engrossed in reading, rendered in striking flat blocks of orange, brown, and green. You can see the clear influence of Art Nouveau in the decorative border at the top, mixing Western style with Japanese woodblock techniques. It’s a fascinating snapshot of Japanese modernism right in the middle of the Meiji era, showing how artists were experimenting with new visual languages.
- Technique
- woodblock print
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