Amano Kunihro with his print "Multiplication in Image 22" (2006), exhibited at the 2007 CWAJ Print Show.
image source: INTOUCH, the monthly magazine of the Tokyo American Club. Photo: Kayo Yamawaki
Amano was born on July 10, 1929 in Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan. At an early age his family moved to Tokyo, where his father "made a living selling souvenir prints of Mount Fuji and other iconic Japanese scenes."[1] During the war he was evacuated back to Aomori, attending Aomori Prefectural Technical School, graduating in 1947. Returning to Tokyo after the war, he spent three years attending classes at various art institutions including Musashino Art University.
In discussing his post-war experiences, Amano in his 2016 interview with journalist Tim Hornyak, relates, “Back then, artists worked just to earn a living. The situation was very severe. My memories are mainly about my struggle to survive.”[2]
Although many sources describe Amano as a "self-taught" woodprint artist, Hornyak reports that "he had studied woodblock printmaking at elementary school, as well as at the art academies."[3] Writing in 1973, Petit notes Amano's "long enjoyed deep friendship" with sōsaku hanga artist Azechi Umetarō 畦地梅太郎 (1902-1999) and the "spiritual guidance of print artists."[4]
First exhibiting with the Japanese Print Association (Nihon Hanga Kyōkai) in 1951[5], he went on to a long and active international career. Lawrence Smith, in his brief biography of the artist, notes: "He is typical of the first post-war generation of 'Sosaku Hanga' artists in his emphasis on clarity of form and printing, and has achieved a consistent elegance through a very individual palette of oil pigments which he developed during the 1960s."[6]
His early work is noted for his incorporation of woodgrain and several critics mention his sexual imagery. "Over the years, his style has ranged from figurative to surrealist to abstract, with depictions of birds and fish giving way to colorful, geometric patterns, often orbiting concentric circles."[7] While often identified as part of the sōsaku hanga movement, Amano, according to Hornyak "doesn’t identify with any particular art movement or inspirational artist" and goes on to quote Amano on his work's trajectory, “Earlier on, I did more figurative work, but there were always artists who are better at that kind of thing. I found it easier to express myself with abstract art.”[8]
An innovative artist with an evolving style, in discussing his work in 1999 Amano states "Going forward, determining the direction it can take involves continuing with thought and experimentation."[9]
Outside ソト, late 1950s
image: 16 5/8 x 12 3/4 in. (42.2 x 32.4 cm)
sheet: 17 3/8 x 13 7/8 in. (44.1 x 35.3 cm)
image source: LACMA M.81.267.3
Beni Bird, 1961
image: 16 5/8 x 21 in. (42.2 x 53.3 cm)
sheet: 17 1/4 x 21 11/16 in. (43.8 x 55.1 cm)
image source: LACMA M.86.147.8
Twilight 3, c. 1960
sheet: 5 1/2 x 10 3/4 in (39.3 x 27.3 cm)
The Flowers in Distant Memory, 1968
image: 26 1/8 x 17 in. (66.4 x 43.2 cm); Paper: 26 7/8 x 17 5/8 in. (68.3 x 44.8 cm)
Dark Changes 12, 1970
sheet: 24 1/4 x 23 3/4 in.
A Poor King 1, 1979
15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.
Personifier 9, 1986
image: 18.3 x 15.7 in. (46 x 46.5 cm)
sheet: 15.7 x 15.7 in. (40 x 40 cm)
image source: Artelino archive
Shonan at Dusk from Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji in the Heisei period, 1993
平成富嶽三十六景 湘南暮色
image size: 9 7/16 x 14 3/16 in. (24×36 cm)
image source: Yamada Shoten 69858
Tokyo 20, 1994
15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (40 x 40 cm)
image source: scanned from catalog of the 39th CWAJ Print Show
Multiplication in Image 5, 1997
Tacit 3, 2014
26 3/4 x 38 3/16 in. (68 x 97 cm)
Source: Website of the CWAJ https://cwaj-gallery.jp/memoriam/ [accessed 2-24-23]
1930* – 2020, age of 90
It is with great sorrow that we mark the passing of AMANO Kunihiro, a very special artist who exhibited 35 times in the CWAJ Print Show. He first exhibited in 1956, the year of CWAJ’s first Print Show. As one of only two living artists who had exhibited in the 1st CWAJ Print Show and was still active at the time of CWAJ’s 60th Print Show Anniversary, CWAJ was pleased to have AMANO Kunihiro as the cover artist for that special Catalogue. CWAJ would like to extend our deep condolences. His long support and generous donations of his artwork are greatly appreciated.
*The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo gives Amano's birthdate as July 10, 1929 and all other encountered sources cite 1929 as the artist's date of birth.
Collections: The British Museum, Art Institute Chicago, Library of Congress, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Art Gallery of NSW, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, The Miyagi Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon), Harvard Art Museums, Worcester Art Museum, Smithsonian National Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1962: 4th Shell Art Exhibition, K Award
1968: Pistoia International Print Biennale (Italy), First Prize
1969: Zurich International Woodcut Exhibition (Switzerland), First Prize
1970: Czech International Print Biennale Exhibition, Grand Prix
1974: Rijeka International Drawing Biennale (Yugoslavia), Grand Prix; Frechen International Print Biennale (West Germany), Third Prize
1976: Frechen International Print Biennale, First Prize
1978: Listowel International Print Biennale (Ireland), First Prize
1989: Norway International Print Triennial, Gold Medal
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latest revision:
4-11-2025 added alt text