[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

URUSHIBARA, Yoshijiro [1888–1953]

“In the Docks” (from Ten Woodcuts)

1924

woodblock print / 8 inches by 10 inches

Urushibara is credited with introducing Japanese style woodblock printing to Western, primarily European, artists. He worked closely with Belgian artist Frank Brangwyn, rendering Brangwyn’s designs as woodblock prints. In 1924, British publisher John Lane produced a slim volume of ten prints by Urushibara of Brangwyn subjects. “In the Docks” is one of those, perhaps the darkest and most dramatic, and also, perhaps, the subject most removed from ukiyo-e style.

Ten Woodcuts was acquired from the estate of Ted (Tadao) Ito to show his gratitude for the community’s hospitality during World War II.