Plowing the Field

Dimensions: 11 x 17 in. (27.94 x 43.18 cm)

Gift of Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce

Kiyoshi Saito first studied Western-style painting at the Hongo Painting Institute in the early 1930s, but began to focus on woodblock prints around 1937. He was a self-taught woodblock print artist of the sosaku hanga (creative print) movement, formally established in 1918, which emphasized the Western ideals of active artist involvement throughout the entire printmaking process from conception to final product. Saito’s woodblock prints often employ a reduced color palette and simplified forms, occasionally incorporating the grain of the wood into the design itself. He won first prize at the 1951 Sao Paulo Biennale which brought acknowledgment and respect to the modern movement of Japanese prints.