24793 MUNAKATA Shiko (Fire Wish Woodblock Painting (MUNAKATA Shiko Appraisal Committee))

Height 27.4cm

Width 20.4cm

He has exhibited works such as "The Astonished Ones" at the Venice Biennale, an international contemporary art exhibition, where he won the first International Print Award.

Mune Shiko established his own unique style of composition and produced works using a technique called urasai, in which paint is applied from the back of the printing block.

He also met Muneyoshi Yanagi, who recognized his talent and deepened his ties with ceramic artists from the "Gei Undōdo" (a movement to make use of the beauty of ordinary and refined items, as stated in the "Statement of Purpose for the Establishment of the Japanese Art Museum").

It goes without saying that the relationship between Munakata Shiko and the ceramic artist Kawai Kanjiro was a friendship that began during the folk art movement.

The work combines words and pictures, two of Shiko's specialities, with the words written by Kanjiro.

Kanjiro was a ceramic artist.

"Working naked"

"Life is work, work is life"

In this way, work and life were closely intertwined. However, when World War II began, the kilns could not be fired and he was unable to work.

During this time, Kanjiro was passionately writing down words. He left pottery behind and immersed himself in the world of words, playing freely, and this is evident in "A Wish for Fire."

Shiko's illustrations are humorously and deeply intertwined with the words, creating an indescribable worldview.