Fujimori Shizuo: Abstract Expressionist Sosaku Hanga print artist (Japanese Art)

Fujimori Shizuo (1891 – 1943) was a Japanese woodblock artist associated with the sōsaku-hanga (creative prints) movement. His style was strongly influenced by Expressionism.Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, presenting the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.Together with Tanaka Kyôkichi and Onchi Kōshirō, he produced the seminal poetry and print magazine Tsukuhae ("Moonglow": 月映), issued from September 1914 until November 1915, when Tanaka's premature early death ended the project after seven issues.Fujimori Shizuo provided thirteen prints for the seminal sōsaku hanga series One Hundred Views of New Tokyo (Shin Tokyo hyakkei) of 1929–32, and produced his own series, Twelve Views of Great Tokyo (Dai Tokyo Junikei), in 1933–34.In 1939 he returned to live in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, where he remained until his death in 1943.His bold and simple expressionistic carving style may have derived from the loss of his right thumb in an accident in his youth. Read more