- Also known as
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Henmi Takashi (逸見享)
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primary name: Henmi Takashi
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other name: Hemmi Takashi
- Details
- individual; printmaker; Japanese; Male
- Life dates
- 1895-1944
- Biography
- Print artist. This artist was typical of the good amateurs who produced much of the work of the 'Sosaku Hanga' movement up to 1945. Their talents were brought out by the relative ease of the medium as used by the movement and the encouragement generously provided by its major figures, especially Onchi and Hiratsuka. Henmi was born in Wakayama and was inspired to make prints by the example of Tanaka Kyokichi (1892-1915), a poet and artist from the same city, who collaborated with Onchi on the poetry and art magazine 'Tsukuhae' (1914-15). Henmi was himself an active poet, and was involved in the design and publication of modern poetry books. He decided to make his living as an accountant in Tokyo so as to pursue prints and poetry in his spare time. In 1916-17 he spent a year in Shanghai with his company's branch office. A member of the Sosaku Hanga Kyokai from 1919, he contributed to the movement's magazines and series. Four of his prints were shown in the Paris exhibition of 1934 organised by Hasegawa Kiyoshi. He is best known for his thirteen contributions to 'One Hundred New Views of Tokyo', marked like much of his work by a gently atmospheric style, with generally lonely figures in townscapes. The early deaths of Tanaka and his close friend the poet Ote Takuji (1887-1934) left his work with a pronounced melancholy, and he spent much of the rest of his life publishing the latter's literary remains.
- Bibliography
- Smith, Lawrence, 'Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989: Woodblocks and Stencils', BMP, London, 1994, p. 24 and no. 8.
Merritt, Helen, 'Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years', University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1990, pp. 222-4 and passim.
Merritt, Helen, and Yamada, Nanako, 'Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints 1900-1975', University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1992, pp. 32-3.
Onchi, Koshiro, "The Modern Japanese Print: An Internal History of the Sosaku Hanga Movement", trans. U. Osamu and C. H. Mitchell in 'Ukiyo-e geijutsu', 11, 1965, pp. 3-34.
Kamon, Yasuo, Tozaka, Koji, and Asahi, Akira, 'Shin Tokyo hyakkei', Heibonsha,
Tokyo, 1978, pp. 86-9, give detailed information on Henmi's life and reproduce all thirteen of his prints in 'One Hundred New Views of Tokyo'.
