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SADAO, Watanabe (1913 - 96)		Untitled Biblical scene
ref. no.: # 50 882		Signed:                       Sadao Watanabe (in pencil) Sealed:                        with red artist seal: sada Dated:                          1965 (in pencil) Size:                             c. 31 x 20 cms (wide margins, cropped in illustration only) Technical data:          Brushed pigments and stencil on kozo paper Condition:                  Very good. Price:                           S o l d.

WATANABE'S themes are invariably Christian, and this combined with the expressive clarity of his work has made him relatively well known internationally, although his visual vocabulary is very largely drawn from Japanese folk traditions. WATANABE was born in Tokyo and had no formal artistic education, but became involved in his twenties with figures in the Folk Art Movement. In 1941 he met Serizawa Keisuke and began to learn from him. Serizawa's pictorial influence is very evident in his post-war work. Watanabe began to make his distinctive prints after 1945 and first exhibited in 1947 at the Mingeikan (Folk Art Musuem) in Tokyo ... (more, see:  next print ). (Quotes from: Lawrence Smith, "Modern Japanese Prints 1912 - 1989", London, 1984)

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