Konishi Seiichirō

Konishi Seiichirō 小西誠一郎 (1919-?)

BIOGRAPHY

Sources: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 119 and as footnoted.

Born in Kyoto in 1919, Konishi Seiichirō studied oil painting and design under the Western-style painter Igaki Kahei (1892-1970). A self-taught print artist, Konishi carved and printed his own work in the sosaku hanga (creative print) style. There is no record of his prints being formally exhibited until 1951, when he exhibited at the Kyoto Print Society (Kyoto Hanga Kyōkai). He went on to exhibit at the Japan Woodblock Print Academy (Nihon Hanga-in or Banga-in), the New Production Association (Shin Seisaku Kyōkai), the Independent Fine Art Association (Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyōkai) and at various one-man and group shows both in Japan and abroad. It is reported that he come under the tutelage of the great sosaku hanga printmaker Munakata Shikō (1903-1975) in the 1950s.

“He uses strong forms and contrasts, but he also works entirely with color blocks, so without key-block lines. He also does figure studies, and here too he sometimes uses an unusual perspective.”1

The most recent print of the artist I have seen is dated 1983 and I have not been able to determine if the artist is still alive as of February 2016.

1 website of Saru Gallery http://www.sarugallery.com/japanese_woodblock_prints_ukiyoe/artists/seiichiro_konishi.html