【Serial Project】 "Shin Hanga - Another Ukiyo-e" ③ The Beginning of Shin Hanga -- It Started with Foreign Artists First
The genesis of Shin Hanga began with publisher Shosaburo Watanabe collaborating with foreign artists, notably Fritz Capelari.Summary
The beginning of Shin Hanga (New Prints) started with publisher Shosaburo Watanabe encountering the watercolorist Fritz Capelari in 1915, leading to their collaboration on woodblock prints, considered the first Shin Hanga works. Capelari, an Austrian artist who came to Japan in 1911, learned much from Ukiyo-e techniques, producing works reminiscent of masters like Suzuki Harunobu. This collaboration was facilitated by earlier foreign artists who had studied Ukiyo-e techniques in Japan during the late Meiji era, such as Emil Orlik and Helen Hyde. Later, British artist Charles Bartlett and Scottish artist Elizabeth Keith also joined the movement, creating numerous Shin Hanga pieces based on Asian landscapes and customs. While Capelari and Keith often worked under commission or jointly with Watanabe, Bartlett sometimes financed his own productions, contributing significantly to expanding the vocabulary and depth of Shin Hanga expression through this fusion of Japanese spirit and Western artistry.
(Source：美術展ナビ)