Japanese Woodblock Print, 1972, self published by Inagaki

SIZE IN INCHES: 4.75 x 5.5 inches

INAGAKI TOMOO (1902-1980) was born in Tokyo and graduated from the Okura Commercial High School. He was introduced to printmaking by Koshiro Onchi and Un'ichi Hiratsuka in 1923, when the older artists were producing the magazine Shi to hanga (Poetry and Prints). He acknowledged a great debt to the two masters, attending Shi to hanga meetings regularly and thereby taking his only tutelage in printmaking. He said that "Poetry and Prints convinced me that I wanted to be a print artist." Inagaki also studied commercial art with Hamada Masuji (1892-1938) and took some drawing lessons with Shizuo Fujimori (1891-1943) in a Sunday class. In regard to Western art, which was so influential on many sosaku hanga printmakers, Inagaki said, "I like some qualities and reject others in Matisse and Picasso."

Beginning in 1924, Inagaki published his first prints in magazines and journals, such as the aforementioned Shi to hanga, issue 13, 1924. Other magazines included Hanga ("Prints"), issues 6, 9/10, 11, 14;Kitsutsuki ("Woodpecker"), and he exhibited with the Japan Creative Print Association. Inagaki became a member of the Japan Print Association in 1932. As did many other artists of his generation, he participated in various post-war international competitions, including the Paris, Tokyo, and Lugano biennales. During most of his career, Inagaki, like nearly all of his contemporaries, could not make a living from printmaking. He once worked for a steel company, and starting in 1935, he taught at the Kyohoku Commercial High School until 1951, when he joined the Japan Advertising Art School. Inagaki is admired for his stylized designs of cats, although he did not begin publishing them until circa 1951. His earlier works included still lifes, floral subjects, landscapes, and views of towns.

VG, as shown