Sekino Yowsaku
The artist in 2016 in front of his work "Sakura"
image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7HP8HmIl1o
Sekino Yowsaku 関野洋作 (b. 1944)
(the artist's first name is also seen romanized as Yousaku and Yosaku)
BIOGRAPHY
Sources: website Sekino's Art World https://www.sekinoworld.com/; Facebook page for Atelier Sekino ttps://www.facebook.com/atelier.sekino/blog posting of Sohdosha Company 株式会社草土舎 http://sohdosha.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html Yowsaku Sekino was born in Suginami-ku, Tokyo as Jun'ichirō and Katsuko Sekino's second son in 1944. He graduated from Chuo University's School of Science and Technology in 1968.
Rather than immediately turning to art to make a living, Yowsaku went to work as a chemist at Shoketsu Metal Kogyo (SMC Corporation). But in 1971, he switched careers to become the technical assistant to his father, Sekino Jun’ichirō (1914-1988), a towering figure in the sosaku hanga print movement.
In 1976, Yosaku opened his own European-style printing workshop where "he assisted various artists to produce their lithographs, etchings, engravings, drypoints and woodblock prints"1 and polished and expanded, through experimentation, the printmaking techniques he learned from his father.
In the early 1980s, he decided to become an artist himself specializing in color woodblock printmaking. He became active in the Shun'yokai 春陽会 (Spring Principle Association) in 1984, and won numerous awards from the organization including their 1988 Research Award (Kenkyū-shō 春陽会研究賞) and their 2004 Oka Award (春陽会岡賞).2 Yowsaku is also a member of the Japan Artists Association (JAA).3
Since 2007, Nihonbashi Takashimaya's prestigious Bijutsu Garou (art gallery) has shown his woodblock prints every year through one-man shows or small group shows. Yowsaku also exhibits in the annual exhibitions of the College Women's Association of Japan (CWAJ). At the 2015 opening reception of the 60th exhibition of the CWAJ, Empress Michiko purchased his print "Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)" for the Imperial Palace.
Many of his prints stand out for his application of gold and platinum leaf as highlights and the technically difficult application of watercolor inks onto metal leaf, as in the below print.
Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)
woodblock print with gold leaf, edition of 50
24 x 35 in. (61 x 89 cm)
image source: https://www.sekinoworld.com/
The Sekino Family Website - Sekino's Art World
Several years ago, a beautiful website was launched by members of the Sekino family, displaying the art of not only Jun’ichirō, but of his sons Yowsaku, a woodblock print artist, and Junpei, a retired mathematics professor and digital artist. Please visit this site at http://www.sekinoworld.com/
Sekino Junpei
Cylamen, 2016
(woodblock print)
11 7/8 x 8 1/4 in. (30 x 21 cm)
image source: https://www.sekinoworld.com/atelier/index.html
Sekino Junpei
Hydra Bowl
(fractal rendering, inkjet printing)
image source: http://www.sekinoworld.com/fractal/index.html
Atelier Sekino
Atelier Sekino was created, and is maintained, by Yowsaku's wife, Midori, and daughter, Junko. The atelier's Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/atelier.sekino
click on image to enlarge
The artist at work in Atelier Sekino
The gallery in Atelier Sekino displaying works of Yowsaku and his father, Jun'ichiro
image source: https://www.facebook.com/atelier.sekino
Typical Artist's Signature and Seal
洋 Yow seal
last revision:
8/27/2021
Prints in Collection
click on thumbnail for print details
White Cattleya Orchid, 1987
IHL Cat. #2146
Roses, 1993
IHL Cat. #2415
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1, 1994
IHL Cat. #2097
Enryaku Temple on Mt. Hiei, 1996
IHL Cat. #2096