Hajime Namiki - born 1947

Hajime Namiki I

Japanese Prints - Info
Tree Scene 108
copyright Hajime Namiki

The art of Hajime Namiki can be considered a tree cult. Trees are a central motif in his work. And trees made Hajime Namiki famous.

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Hajime Namiki and Post-War Japan

As Hajime Namiki was born in 1947 in Tokyo, the city lay in ruins and would be occupied for another five years by the United States. He experienced firsthand the rapid re-growth of the city during his childhood. But he did not let himself get caught up in the euphoria of a western-oriented progress. His artistic development led him back to his roots. In the traditional art of the Japanese woodblock printing, he finally found his homeland.

Sculpture and Woodblock Prints

Hajime Namiki II

Yuji Hiratsuka - Biography
Earth 5
copyright Hajime Namiki

In 1965 Hajime Namiki began studying sculpture as a student of the legendary artist Shigeru Ogura. Namiki had to spend long hours in Ogura's studio. In 1974 Namiki became a member of the Japanese Association of Sculptors and since then he has had several works displayed at important exhibitions.

The sophistication of his work in the subtle art of color woodblock printing was not recognized until about 1978. Within a short time Namiki mastered the traditional processes of printmaking.

Namiki looks for new paths within the traditional process of creating prints. He loves to limit his color palette to nuances of unique colors or he creates low key contrast to lift the subject matter from the environment. Namiki also creates a special effect using a golden and silver leaf background, on which he arranges the print in oil based colors.

Love of Nature

Hajime Namiki III

Kunio Kaneko - Biography
Mt. Fuji 13
copyright Hajime Namiki

To Hajime Namiki his subject matters are expressions of a developed connection to nature. For example, if an artist were to live a long time in Kyoto and then move to China where he then continued to live and work in a large city, his spiritual homeland would still lie in nature. And it is this nature that Namiki has studied, down to the smallest detail and his preliminary sketches for his prints exactly reflect this.

Exhibitions of Hajime Namiki

• Since 1990 - Participation in yearly CWAJ-Exhibitions of Prints, Tokyo, Japan.
• 1996 - Exhibition in Aomori, Japan.
• 1997 - Exhibition in Chiba, Japan.
• 1999 - Exhibition in San Francisco, USA.

Collections

Hajime Namiki IV

Takahashi Ushio - Biography
Tree Scene 122
copyright Hajime Namiki

• The White House, Washington DC, USA.
• University of Wisconsin, USA.
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA.
• Numerous private collections

rp in July 2007
(updated by Dieter Wanczura in July 2009)

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