Sakamoto Isamu

Sakamoto Isamu 坂本勇 (b. 1931)

BIOGRAPHY

Source: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Merritt, Helen and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, 1992 p. 130-131, website of Fukushima Minnano News and various web sources.

Born in 1931 in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, where he still lives, Sakamoto graduated in 1961 from Musashino College of Fine Arts Junior College. He was a middle-school art teacher for many years and, as shown in the 2018 photo to the left, continues to share his knowledge of printmaking.

He is an member and trustee of the Japan Print Society (日本版画会 Nippon hangakai) and active in the Shin Seiki Bijutsu Kyokai (New Century Fine Art Association, founded by oil painters in 1955.) He serves on a number of Fukushima artist organizations, including the Fukushima Artists Federation.

His prints feature landscapes and often portray spots of scenic beauty in Fukushima prefecture, such as the series Four Seasons in Fukushima (Fukushima shiki), two prints from which are part of this collection. After the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Sakamoto produced a number of prints both portraying the devastation and the "hope for reconstruction."

At the age of 89, the artist continues to make prints with the

assistance of his wife and stays actively engaged in his local community. In this photo, Sakamoto teaches a special class on printmaking to 6th graders at Takaku Elementary school near where he lives.

source: 高久小学校日記 Takaku Elementary School Diary

Flower of Hope 希望の花, 2011

"I would like you to see not only realistic works of

tsunami damage, but also works produced with dreams and hopes for reconstruction."

- Sakamoto Isamu

Sakamoto has had solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan and in France and the United States. His work is in a number of collections including the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Carnegie Museum of Art. His prints continue to be shown in local galleries and locations in Fukushima prefecture.