Mid-Century to Manga: The Modern Japanese Print in America

Mid-Century to Manga celebrates the historical and continued local interest in Japanese and Japanese American printmaking and illustration. The exhibition traces the story of the modern sōsaku-hanga (or “creative prints”) movement and other creative collectibles across the past century–from Japan to the United States and beyond.

The exhibition will feature 75 prints on paper, over two dozen of which have never been on display at the Michener Art Museum before (such as Kiyoshi Saitō’s Winter in Aizu series).

Highlighting a prominent local story, the central feature of the exhibition is the display of three original copies of James Michener’s 1962 book The Modern Japanese Print: An Appreciation. This very large folio (each is approximately two-feet tall and three-feet wide when opened) contains signed original woodblock prints by modern Japanese printmakers Hiratsuka Un’Ichi, Maekawa Sempan, Mori Yoshitoshi, Watanabe Sadao, Kinoshita Tomio, Shima Tamami, Azechi Umetaro, Iwami Reika, Yoshida Masaji, and Maki Haku.