Impression of a Violinist (Portrait of Suwa Nejiko)

Description

Onchi Kôshirô
Japanese, 1891–1955
Impression of a Violinist (Portrait of Suwa Nejiko)
Showa period (1926–1989)
1946
Color woodblock print on paper
Gift of John K. and Patricia F. Lark and Family and Leonard A. Lark, in Memory
of Elizabeth Lark Nagle, 1997/2.14

Onchi Kôshirô was a printmaker from an aristocratic family. He achieved a very high level of education, including training in both calligraphy and modern Western art, and was also a poet, a magazine editor, an author, and a book designer. He became an avid proponent of the sôsaku hanga (creative prints) movement, which was concerned with the artist’s self-expression and conceived of the artist as the sole creator of a work. Before Onchi’s time an artist’s prints were produced by artisans, and carving and printing were executed by different hands.

Onchi’s prints tend to be abstract and convey emotions. Here the artist depicts the violinist Suwa Nejiko (1920–2012), a child prodigy who was training in Paris when World War II started. She remained in Paris during the German occupation and her career flourished as she played for wounded German troops. To honor her superb gift, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, presented her with what is believed to be an authentic Stradivarius violin, which is still in her family’s possession. It is possible that the print depicts her playing this violin since she returned to Japan with it in 1945, a year before the print was made.