Snow Gorge (Chojiro Valley) by Umetaro Azechi

This is a stunning woodblock print from 1952 titled Snow Gorge (Chojiro Valley) by Japanese printmaker and mountaineer Umatero Azechi. Azechi uses his intentionally naive style to reduce the mountains and glacier to geometric blocks of color. A simple palette of white and different shades of grey set against a stunning blue sky creates a masterpiece. The piece is in pristine condition. It is unframed and printed on an untrimmed sheet 17.25 x 12 inches. The image is 15.375 x 10.5 inches. It is signed by the artist U. Azechi lower left. His simple red chop mark is lower right. The edition size is not given. There are no condition issues. A fantastic piece from an iconic Japanese artist.

Umetaro Azechi (1902 – 1999) Umetaro Azechi was a noted Japanese printmaker but also a mountain climber which explains his affinity for mountains as artistic subject matter. He had a very untraditional artistic education as his early artistic training was through a correspondence course. He moved from his small village to Tokyo where he began working for a printing company. His work began to become known, in particular to the artist Un’ichi Hiratsuka who provided mentorship and training to the young artist. He continued his work with the printing company but joined the Japan Print Association and the Kokugakai Arts Association. He left his job to pursue art independently> He was in the Japanese army in World War II stationed in Manchuria. After the war he returned to making art. It was at this time that he began climbing mountains. He was quite accomplished and wrote extensively on the topic. He incorporated mountains and the people that lived in the mountains into his artistic subjects. These are his most well known and sought after works. In the 1930s he was working in the sosaku hanga (creative print) style. After the war he developed his own style that was intentionally primitive or naïve. He used simple shapes and muted colors but created powerful images. He became internationally known exhibiting at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1953 and the Lugano International Print Biennial in 1956. His work is held in many major collections including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the British Museum. There is a memorial museum in his honor in his home town of Uwajima. A unique voice in Japanese printmaking.