Hagiwara was born in 1913 in Kofu, Yamanashi and spent his early years in Korea, during the Japanese colonial period. As a student he moved to Tokyo to study at the the Tokyo Arts School, from there, he graduated in 1938. The majority of his art training was in painting but of course, he studied the art of woodblock printing from Unichi Hiratsuka . Upon his graduation he worked at the Takamizawa Woodblock Print Company. His independent printmaking came into play only after the war and his period abstraction began in the late 1950's. By the 70's Hagiwara had attained a certain level of international fame, but his works are largely unknown.
Hagiwara's works are no livelier than his contemporaries, but one thing that is interesting is that they are fresher. If the idea comes to us in the beauty of of an undiminished style and strength of image, then Hagiwara's works must be mentioned. Hagiwara's works are indeed woodcuts, however, the traditional form of Japanese woodblock was where he started bu not where he finished. One of the traditional aspects of the Japanese woodblock that Hagiwara did keep, was the modulations of tone and the truly impassioned fidelity on the part of this artist. The other aspect of Hagiwara of course is design. 
One of the often used reasons to dismiss abstract art is that it's simple. Actually the simplifications of design that are demanded, and how well it is done, is the true sign of outstanding abstract art. In fact, good abstract art is actually more revealing because it makes you consider what has been left out or what the initial inspiration was. With Hagiwara, there is thought and feeling behind the work and there is no enticement of daintily wrought detail to cover anything up. The woodcuts of Hagiwara are at least courageous and at best, very important works of art.
As always with any art, there are men and women who stand at the parting of schools and movements and offer us something from each. Hagiwara is one of these artists, and that is because there is a quietness and refinement in his method. His careful, precise and cultivated accents make an admirable foil to the freedom and boldness of many of his compatriots who worked in the same circles. Hagiwara's disciplined intelligence if bristling with artistic independence. He seeks his freedom through respectful obedience to his medium, and the result invariably commands respect on the part of the public. 
Hagiwara's works are no livelier than his contemporaries, but one thing that is interesting is that they are fresher. If the idea comes to us in the beauty of of an undiminished style and strength of image, then Hagiwara's works must be mentioned. Hagiwara's works are indeed woodcuts, however, the traditional form of Japanese woodblock was where he started bu not where he finished. One of the traditional aspects of the Japanese woodblock that Hagiwara did keep, was the modulations of tone and the truly impassioned fidelity on the part of this artist. The other aspect of Hagiwara of course is design. One of the often used reasons to dismiss abstract art is that it's simple. Actually the simplifications of design that are demanded, and how well it is done, is the true sign of outstanding abstract art. In fact, good abstract art is actually more revealing because it makes you consider what has been left out or what the initial inspiration was. With Hagiwara, there is thought and feeling behind the work and there is no enticement of daintily wrought detail to cover anything up. The woodcuts of Hagiwara are at least courageous and at best, very important works of art.As always with any art, there are men and women who stand at the parting of schools and movements and offer us something from each. Hagiwara is one of these artists, and that is because there is a quietness and refinement in his method. His careful, precise and cultivated accents make an admirable foil to the freedom and boldness of many of his compatriots who worked in the same circles. Hagiwara's disciplined intelligence if bristling with artistic independence. He seeks his freedom through respectful obedience to his medium, and the result invariably commands respect on the part of the public. 
2 comments:
Fascinating, Clive. I hadn't come across this artist's work, and I feel you have given me a real insight into his achievement. I'd love to see one of these prints in real life rather than on the internet.
Many thanks Neil. It's not an impossibility to see her works in person, they do come up for auction, I even saw an Onchi on Ebay last week, which kind of made me gasp. I think generally speaking much of Japan's post war artistic output is vastly under-rated in the west and largely unknown outside of a handful of experts. Hagiwara's works are plentiful also, and he had a genunine interest in the opinions and desirability of his works outside Japan in the international markets.
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