Shiko Munakata

Printmaker. Born in Aomori City on September 5, 1903. After graduating from elementary school, he helped out in the family blacksmith business and then worked as a waiter at the courthouse. Hoping to become a painter, he formed a Western-style painting group with Takayama Uichi and others, and moved to Tokyo in 1924 (Taisho 13). He began working with woodblock prints at the beginning of the Showa era, and studied under Hiratsuka Unichi. He exhibited prints at the Japan Creative Print Association Exhibition, the Shunyo-kai Exhibition, and the Kokugakai Exhibition, as well as oil paintings at the Teiten Exhibition. In 1932 (Showa 7), he became a member of the Japan Print Association. He became acquainted with Muneyoshi Yanagi and Kanjiro Kawai of the folk art movement, and his works gradually began to have more Buddhist themes. He became a member of the Kokugakai in 1937, and the following year was the first print to be selected for the special prize at the Shinbunten Exhibition. After the Second World War, he won an award at the 1955 San Paulo Biennale and the International Print Grand Prize at the 1956 Venice Biennale, establishing his international reputation. During this time, he founded and presided over the Japan Print Academy. He held numerous exhibitions throughout Japan and the United States, and received the Asahi Culture Prize in 1964, as well as the Mainichi Art Grand Prize and the Order of Culture in 1970. His style, which has been described as a modern flowering of the Jomon lineage, is a unique religious expressionism. He produced many masterpieces of Japanese painting. He passed away in Tokyo on September 13, 1975. His representative woodblock prints include "Yamatoshi Uruwashi," "Two Bodhisattvas and the Ten Disciples of Shakyamuni," "Women in Full Blossom," and "Ode to the Willow, Green, and Red Flowers." In 1963, the Munakata Woodblock Art Museum was opened within the Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki City, in 1974 the Munakata Woodblock Art Museum (closed in 2010) was opened in Kamakura City, and in November 1975 the Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum was opened in his hometown of Aomori City.

[Tadao Ogura January 19, 2017]

"The Complete Works of Munakata Shiko, 12 volumes (1977-1979, Kodansha)" ▽ "Contemporary Japanese Art 12: Munakata Shiko, Commentary by Tominaga Soichi (1975, Shueisha)" ▽ "Munakata Shiko, by Umikami Masaomi (Hoikusha, Color Books)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

版画家。明治36年9月5日青森市生まれ。小学校卒業後、家業の鍛冶(かじ)職を手伝い、さらに裁判所の給仕となる。画家を志し、鷹山宇一(たかやまういち)らと洋画グループをつくり、1924年（大正13）上京する。昭和初めから木版画を手がけ、平塚運一(うんいち)の教えを受ける。日本創作版画協会展、春陽会展、国画会展に版画を出品のほか、帝展に油絵を出品。1932年（昭和7）日本版画協会会員となる。柳宗悦(むねよし)、河井寛次郎ら民芸派の知遇を得、しだいに仏教的主題が多くなる。1937年国画会同人となり、翌年新文展で版画による初の特選となった。第二次世界大戦後は、1955年（昭和30）サン・パウロ・ビエンナーレ展で受賞し、翌1956年ベネチア・ビエンナーレ展で国際版画大賞を受け、世界的な評価を確立。その間に日本板画院を創立して主宰。国内とアメリカの各地で数多くの展覧会を開き、1964年度朝日文化賞のほか、1970年には毎日芸術大賞と文化勲章を受けた。縄文的血脈の現代的開花とも評されるその作風は、独特の宗教的表現主義である。日本画の大作も多い。昭和50年9月13日東京で没。木版画の代表作は『大和(やまと)し美(うるわ)し』『二菩薩釈迦(ぼさつしゃか)十大弟子』『湧然(ゆうぜん)する女者達々(にょしゃたちたち)』『柳緑花紅頌(りゅうりょくかこうしょう)』ほか。なお、1963年倉敷市の大原美術館内に棟方板画館、1974年鎌倉市に棟方板画美術館（2010年閉館）、1975年11月には郷里の青森市に棟方志功記念館が開設された。

［小倉忠夫　2017年1月19日］

『『棟方志功全集』全12巻（1977～1979・講談社）』▽『富永惣一解説『現代日本の美術12　棟方志功』（1975・集英社）』▽『海上雅臣著『棟方志功』（保育社・カラーブックス）』

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