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Shin-hanga (新版画, lit. "new prints", "new woodcut (block) prints") was anart movement in early 20th-century Japan, during theTaishō andShōwa periods, that revitalized the traditionalukiyo-e art rooted in theEdo andMeiji periods (17th–19th century). It maintained the traditionalukiyo-e collaborative system (hanmoto system) where the artist, carver, printer, and publisher engaged in division of labor, as opposed to the parallelsōsaku-hanga (creative prints) movement.
The movement was initiated and nurtured by publisherWatanabe Shozaburo (1885–1962), and flourished from around 1915 to 1942, resuming on a smaller scale after theSecond World War through the 1950s and 1960s. Watanabe approached European artists residing in Tokyo,Friedrich Capelari [de] andCharles W. Bartlett to produce woodblock prints inspired by EuropeanImpressionism (which itself had drawn fromukiyo-e).
Shin-hanga artists incorporated Western elements such as the impression of light and the expression of individual moods. It eschewedukiyo-e traditions of emulating hand-drawn brushstrokes seeking instead to "create works replete with creativity and rich with artistic quality, by avoiding enslavement to hand-drawn painting or old models".[1]
Watanabe introduced new printing techniques, most notably in the extensive use of printed layers of eitherbaren suji-zuri (printed marks left deliberately by thebaren) orgoma-zuri (printed speckles), printed on thicker and usually less moist paper than pastukiyo-e prints. Watanabe consideredshin-hanga to befine art (geijutsu) and separate fromshinsaku-hanga, the term that he used to describe less labor-intensive souvenir prints such as those byTakahashi Shōtei.[2]Shin-hanga themes, however, remained strictly traditional; themes of landscapes (fukeiga), famous places (meishō), beautiful women (bijinga),kabuki actors (yakusha-e), and birds-and-flowers (kachō-e).
Popular with foreign Westerners,shin-hanga prints appealed to the Western taste for nostalgic and romanticized views of Japan and as such, enjoyed immense popularity overseas. In the 1920s, there were articles onshin-hanga in theInternational Studio,The Studio,The Art News andThe Art Digest magazines. The firstshin-hanga exported were Capelari and Bartlett prints in 1916, however, no foreign exhibitions were held until at Boston in March 1924. A larger exhibition of 68 works was held at theHerron Art Institute in October 1926. Later, the promoter of said Boston and Indianapolis touring exhibitions, artistHiroshi Yoshida, helped organize and promote two very large exhibitions at theToledo Museum of Art in Ohio in 1930 and 1936.[3] Through the 1930s and then after the Second World War, art dealers such as Robert O. Muller (1911-2003) importedshin-hanga to satisfy Western demand.
There was not much domestic market forshin-hanga prints in Japan.Ukiyo-e prints were considered by the Japanese as mass commercial products, as opposed to the European view ofukiyo-e as fine art during the climax ofJaponisme. After decades ofmodernization andWesternization during theMeiji era, architecture, art and clothing in Japan came to follow Western modes. Japanese art students were trained in the Western tradition. Westernoil paintings (yōga) were considered high art and received official recognition from theBunten (The Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition).Shin-hanga prints, on the other hand, were considered as a variation of the outdatedukiyo-e. They were dismissed by the Bunten and were subordinated under oil paintings andsculptures.[4]
As foreign demand forshin-hanga increased through the 1920s, the complexity of prints decreased.Ground layers ofbaren-suji andgoma were less commonly seen and the overall number of printing impressions decreased. To satisfy foreign collectors, colors became brighter and more saturated.Shin-hanga supplantedshinsaku-hanga in the souvenir market and the latter ceased production.
Shin-hanga declined as the military government tightened its control over the arts and culture during wartime. In 1939, the Army Art Association was established under the patronage of the Army Information Section to promote war art. By 1943, an official commission for war painting was set up and artists’ materials were rationed. Overseas market for Japanese prints declined drastically at the same time.[5]
Demand forshin-hanga never regained its momentum postwar. Nevertheless a small number of artists continued in the tradition. Artists such asItō Shinsui (1898–1972) andShimura Tatsumi [ja] (1907–1980) continued to utilize the collaborative system during the 1960s and 1970s. In the last decades of the 20th century publishers instead concentrated on making reproductions of early 20th centuryshin-hanga; meanwhilesōsaku-hanga enjoyed immense popularity and prestige in the international art scene. The early 21st century has seen somewhat of a resurgence inshin-hanga popularity notably in market demand for earlier masters such asKawase Hasui (1883–1957) and Hiroshi Yoshida (1876–1950), and for new artists continuing theshin-hanga aesthetic such asPaul Binnie (1967–).[6]
Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, was among the prominent collectors ofshin-hanga.[7]
Shinsaku-hanga (新作版画, lit. "newly-made prints", "newly made, notukiyo-e reproductions") andshin-hanga have often been conflated.Shinsaku-hanga was the forerunner toshin-hanga and similarly created by the publisherWatanabe Shozaburo. It began in 1907 with the prints ofTakahashi Shōtei and prospered until about 1927, with its popularity waning inversely to the growing popularity ofshin-hanga. It had ceased completely by 1935.[8]
Shinsaku-hanga was essentially modernization ofukiyo-e and especially the prints ofHiroshige. Compared toshin-hanga, it did not depict contemporary Japan, instead it offered nostalgic views of pre-industrial, pre-Meiji Japan with modern printmaking techniques. Techniques characterized by continuing to replicate the hand-drawn brushstrokes ofukiyo-e (shin-hanga expressly resisted replicating brushstrokes) while beginning to eschew contour lines and large flat areas of color typical of historicalukiyo-e.[9]
This style was very popular early on with tourists in Japan (Watanabe described them as "souvenir prints") and for foreign export. Its typically smaller prints (smaller thanshin-hanga) were less expensive to produce and less expensive to purchase, and they ultimately provided the financial stability to Watanabe to nurture theshin-hanga movement.
The best knownshinsaku-hanga artists were Takahashi Shōtei,Ohara Koson, Ito Sozan and Narazaki Eisho. Each of these artists later moved toshin-hanga.
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