About This Print

"Mr. Funasaka enjoys reducing images to their most basic components: lines, circles, dots and rectangles. The magic of Mr. Funasaka's prints lies in his ability to extract deep meaning from the simplest of images..."¹

Writing in 1973, artist and art historian, Gaston Petit described a shift in the artist's work that is exemplified by this collection's print:  "...whereas [previous works] emphasized a solid form as the focal object, at present the artist is employing the reverse: the center remains white, while colored borders accentuate the form and the corners become the actual figures.  In his use of "empty" space and his new arrangements of surface, pattern, and dimension, Funasaka extracts unique plastic and visual possibilities from the material.  A comparison of Funasaka's earlier works with the present indicates a definite modification and shift in both space and coloring.  Generous scribblings on the entire face of the paper have given way to a cool organization; heavy color tones have been replaced by a deliberately selected and parsimonious use of color."<sup>2 

1</sup> website of Walsh Gallery http://www.walshgallery.com/contemporary-japanese-art-2002/
² 44 Modern Japanese Print Artists, Gaston Petit, Kodansha International Ltd., 1973, p. 105.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#808
Title or Description	Blue and White space, No. 366 verso
Artist	Funasaka Yoshisuke (b. 1939)
Signature	Y. Funasaka in pencil
Seal	none
Publication Date	1974
Edition	20 of 100
Publisher	self-published
Carver	self-carved
Printer	unknown, but possibly self-printed or printed by A. Sakayori who Funasaka started working with during the early 1970s
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	excellent - tape remnants top margin verso; several small spots of foxing
Genre	contemporary
Miscellaneous	the colored shapes bordering the open diamond shape are likely produced with woodblock; the blue patterned areas are likely a silkscreen pattern.
Format
H x W Paper	20 5/8 x 20 in. (52.4 x 50.8 cm)
H x W Image	16 7/8 x 16 3/4 in. (42.9 x 42.5 cm)
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