Japanese Katazome Calendar 1972

Item Details

[Kyoto], 1972

15 1/4 x 11 1/2". Each month in this collection presents a beautiful example of hand-made "Mingei" (or Japanese folk art) and contains 13 original designs (one page for each month as well as a rectangular label on the cardboard folding case); each one stenciled on handmade untrimmed Japanese mulberry paper. A separate sheet provides interpretive text for each month along with a brief description of the artist. Fine condition.

Takeshi Nishijima (1929–2003) served as an instructor of katazome design and dyeing crafts at both the Ikenobo College in Kyoto and the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. Like the contemporary artist, Keisuke Serizawa (1895-1984), Takeshi Nishijima was a major figure within the Mingei (Folk Art) movement, a twentieth century endeavor to preserve traditional Japanese arts and crafts. The stencil dyed calendar prints were an integral expression of Mingei art, and both Serizawa and Nishijima created these striking calendar images for mostly Western collectors. While Serizawa's work incorporates abstract patterns, Nishijima's designs emphasize natural and scenic themes. Many of his katazome calendars were printed by Kuriyama Haruo, (Japanese, active 1970’s), President of the Wazome-Kogei Co.