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Takahashi Hiromitsu (高橋宏光) was born in Tokyo in 1959 and graduated from Nihon University, Tokyo in 1982. He prefers using his given name in signing his art, as the surname "Takahashi" is a very common in Japan. Hiromitsu's parents, the print artist Takahashi Isao and the textile-dyeing artist Soeda Toshiko, were assistants to Mori Yoshitoshi and the katazome (stencil dyeing: 型染め) designer Serizawa Keisuke (芹沢銈介 1895–1984). As a result, they introduced their son to the technique of stencil printmaking (kappazuri: 合羽摺). Hiromitsu's works in that medium (the first date from 1984) are understandably reminiscent of Mori's, but they maintain a style that is easily recognizable as his own. For one thing, kabuki is his singular theme, whereas Mori roamed more widely in his subject matter. As a result, a great number of Hiromitsu's designs rely on the stop-action mie ("display" or dramatic pose: 見得) that characterizes many celebrated climactic moments in kabuki.
Given that Mori is now gone and Hiromitsu is no longer young, some observers worry that he might be the last true modern kappazuri print artist. Indeed, Hiromitsu once said that, "I never set out to be an artist, you know. I graduated from Nihon University with an undergraduate degree in law and worked for a while as a salesman for Sanrio, but I didn't feel at home in the business world. I realized that I really wanted to make art. When my parents were printing for Mori Yoshitoshi, I learned about kappazuri (stencil printing) and I wanted to keep that tradition going. The only people I knew of who were printing in that style were old. I am determined to keep kappazuri alive."
Hiromitsu's use of a dark gray background and an intensely rendered black and white figure results in a dramatic portrayal of the Arrowhead scene. In 1987 Hiromitsu also designed a reworked large-format version of this subject in bright primary and secondary colors, in an edition of 20 titled "Yanone II" (840 x 600 mm; see image at right). Note the addition of the butterflies, Gorô's conventional crest. Even later, he produced a very similar but recut (again) small-format version in a edition of 100 (619 x 127 mm; see M.2011.137.16 in the LA County Museum of Art). Hiromitsu has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows around the world. His works can be found in many public institutions, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England; Cincinnati Art Museum; Hameenlinna Art Museum, Finland; Honolulu Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Arts and Crafts, Hamburg; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts; Portland Art Museum; Singapore National Museum; Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa, Israel; and Victoria Arts Center Trust, Melbourne. © 2020-2022 by John Fiorillo BIBLIOGRAPHY
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