The Clark, Williamstown
New exhibit opens Saturday, Nov. 6
Japan’s printmaking landscape underwent an unprecedented tidal shift in the twentieth century. Two movements invigorated the public’s relationship with printmaking in both Japan and the West: shin-hanga (new prints) and sōsaku-hanga (creative prints). The former was defined by a nostalgia for the premodern while the latter, rejecting the past entirely, embraced modernist and avant-garde sensibilities. Simultaneously, a complete overhaul of Japan’s public infrastructure, two world wars, and a series of cataclysmic natural disasters continually disrupted artistic pursuits.