
Yasunari Ikenaga is an artist known for his portraits of enchanting modern beauties captured through delicate lines and a unique use of color. Now, Mr. Ikenaga has taken on the role of the modern ukiyo-e artist to create his firstbijin-gaor picture of a beautiful woman in collaboration with carvers and printers at the Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints, who have kept ukiyo-e production techniques alive in the present day.
This is an original woodcut print created by Mr. Ikenaga who depicts the opulent elegance of the woman making full use of the smooth lines characteristic of woodcut prints and the soft textures ofwashiJapanese paper.
<p>Yasunari Ikenaga(1965-)</p>
Yasunari Ikenaga was born in Oita Prefecture in 1965. He graduated from the Art Department at Midorigaoka High School attached to the Oita Prefectural College of Arts and Culture in 1984. He went on to educate himself, placing natural mineral pigments on various materials, and through repeated trial and error, he started creating Japanese-style paintings based on his own unique techniques. Known for his portraits of beautiful women with languid expressions, he has exhibited his works to great acclaim at art fairs around the country and abroad. In 2014, he published a collection of paintings entitled “Kimi omou hyakuya no kofuku(The happiness of one hundred nights thinking of you)” from Geijutsu Shinbunsha.

作品一覧

Scattering Chrysanthemums - Satsuki(2016)
彫ーCarving
Contours create rich expressions
Smooth lines are gracefully carved
In portraits of beautiful women called bijin-ga, the contours play an important role in creating the rich expressions of the women. Using woodblocks made from the hard wood of the wild mountain cherry tree, the carver faithfully carves the smooth lines drawn by Mr. Ikenaga. Like the bijin-ga produced by the ukiyo-e artist Utamaro, the hairline is where the carver shows off his skill.


摺ーPrinting
The softness of the washi Japanese paper produces the delicate expressions of the beautiful woman
The patterns on the clothes the woman is wearing and the textile she is lying on is made to appear relatively flat. In contrast, the eyes and lips, which are the highlights of bijin-ga, are portrayed to give a soft, bewitching expression to the woman, making the best use of shading techniques, which is a strongpoint of woodblock prints. The soft texture of the washi Japanese paper itself is used for the woman's skin.

