Vintage Japanese Sosaku Hanga Woodblock Print by Wakamizu Hisasato, 1967

Original Japanese sōsaku-hanga (creative woodblock print) by Wakamizu Hisasato (若水久郷), dated 1967.
This striking work combines abstract portrait forms with a symbolic flower motif, rendered in expressive black ink textures.
The artist’s red seal (hanko) reads “Wakamizu” (若水), confirming authorship. The handwritten signature and date are in pencil below the image.

Executed on traditional washi paper with visible fibers, this print belongs to the postwar Shōwa era of Japanese modernism, when artists embraced bold experimentation in printmaking.

✨ Style and schools:
This work belongs to the Sōsaku-hanga (Creative Print) movement, which emphasized the artist’s individual expression. Unlike traditional ukiyo-e, where carvers and printers collaborated, here the artist himself designed, carved, and printed the work. The abstract, almost expressionist lines recall the influence of Japanese modernist schools of the 1950s–60s, standing between the bold textures of Munakata Shikō and the refined abstraction of Saitō Kiyoshi. It represents the unique bridge between Japanese tradition and international modern art of the Shōwa era.

– Artist: Wakamizu Hisasato (art-name, gō)
– Date: 1967 (Shōwa period)
– Technique: Sōsaku-hanga (creative woodblock print)
– Material: handmade washi, black pigment
– Size: approx. 27 × 38 cm
– Condition: age-related spots (foxing), otherwise very good

A rare piece of Japanese modernist hanga, perfect for collectors of abstract and postwar Japanese art.

Safe and tracked shipping from Latvia (Riga Gallery of Japanese Art CloudyYokomido).


For US buyers: this item enters the United States duty-free.