일본 근대판화의 탄생과 그 시대적 역할 - 평면적 전개로부터 조형적 회화의 발상으로 -

Abstract

The written paper, focuses on the period when the modern hanga(woodblockprint)surged onto the modern Japanese art scene as a genre in its own right, and sosaku hanga(creative prints) began to exhibit great diversity of both technique and expression. The thesis commences with an examination of the modern Japanese woodblock print. Specifically, it analyzes the motives that sparked the emergence of the modern hanga as a separate artistic genre in the transitional era of Japanese history that lasted from the waning years of the Edo shogunate through the Meiji and Taisho periods, when the country was riding the tide of so-called modernization on the economic, social, and cultural fronts. The purpose of the thesis is to examine the history and role of the modern Japanese hanga; and to explore in particular the role of the hanga, or fine woodblock print, in Japan’s reception of modern art with its emphasis on the pursuit of aesthetic beauty through deference to the individual artist’s artistic imagination and how it manifests itself. I hope to go on to trace the evolution of a wide range of hanga techniques and assess their artistic potential. It is demonstrated that — as is indeed evident from the state of the hanga today — artists can enhance their creative output in pursuit of their own artistic norms by harnessing the greater functionality of the print that has resulted from the greater range of techniques now available; responding to the transformation in general attitudes to art that has accelerated with the development of new materials to work with; and tapping their own aesthetic instincts.