Forum > Kunio Kaneko - born 1949

Kunio Kaneko I

Japanese Prints - Info
Geta 12
copyright Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko at first sight seems to be the artist of the small print format - these are usually your first encounters with the artist. The Japanese with their small apartments and houses have a tendency to decorate their homes with smaller prints than Westerners do. With his elaborate technique, his lush printmaking style and his pleasing Japanese subjects, Kunio Kaneko, a student of Joichi Hoshi is a real find for art lovers in and outside of Japan.

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Living in Tokyo

Kunio Kaneko was born in Tokyo in 1949. He graduated from Musashino Junior College of Fine Arts. Among his teachers had been Joichi Hoshi and Sasajima Kihei. The artist is a member of Japan Print Association.

Exhibitions

Kunio Kaneko II

Japanese Prints - Article
Fuji 1 (Morning)
copyright Kunio Kaneko

Here is an excerpt of the activities of Kunio Kaneko over the last years.

• 1994 - Chamalieres Trienniale Mondiale d'estampes Petit Format, France.
• 1996 - Exhibition of Modern Japanese Printmakers, New York, Connecticut, U.S.A.
• 1997 - Solo Exhibition, Tokyo / Japan.
• 1997 - Exhibitions of East-West Connections, New York / U.S.A.
• 2001 - Solo Exhibition, Okinawa / Japan.
• 2001 - Solo Exhibition, Tokyo / Japan.
• 2001 - Exhibition of Nine Japanese Printmakers, New York / U.S.A.

It should not remain unmentioned that Kunio Kaneko has exhibited at the CWAJ print shows for meanwhile 18 years. CWAJ stands for College Women Association of Japan. That sounds like a get-together of Japanese ladies of higher education who enjoy drinking tea and having an intellectual chat with each other. They may like tea, but that's not what they are best known for. The CWAJ has been founded after world war II as a non-profit organization for cross-cultural exchange and friendship. Meant as a fund-raiser, the CWAJ 50 years ago established an annual print sales show.

One of the founders was Oliver Statler, famous book writer and promoter of Japanese postwar printmaking. Today, this annual show at the Tokyo American Club is a major art event in Japan. The importance manifests itself for instance in the fact that the decision, whose artist's printwork will decorate the cover of the catalog, has become a major issue.

Prints by Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko III

Japanese Woodblock Prints
Festival Lantern - Matsuri Chochin
copyright Kunio Kaneko

The artist works in the traditional Japanese technique of woodblock prints. The usual edition size is from 100 to 200 - signed and numbered. Kaneko's subjects could hardly be more Japanese - kimonos, chop-sticks, trees that remind of those of his master Joichi Hoshi, Japanese sandals, folding fans, masks or depictions of Japan's sacred mountain - Mount Fuji. The images have friendly colors and the artist often chooses words like "lucky" or "happy" for the prints' titles. Kunio Kaneko's woodblock prints spread a friendly and positive atmosphere. That certainly has contributed to the artist's successful career.

The prints are very elaborate and intricate in their making. Often Kunio Kaneko uses metallic colors for the backgrounds. Embossing is another of the lavish techniques used. Nevertheless, prices are very affordable - starting at roughly $ 100. It is astonishing how much you get for your bucks.

Internet shoppers should know that Kaneko's prints are difficult to display as scanned or photographed images. The metallic backgrounds and the embossing do not come out as nicely as they are. In a nutshell, what you will get, is better than what you see.

Video

Kunio Kaneko IV

Video Kunio Kaneko
Click for Video
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We produced a video with a short presentation of the artist and woodblock prints by Kunio Kaneko.

Gallery of Kunio Kaneko Woodblock Prints

Since the first publication of this article in April 2005 we have received many more wonderful consignments of Kunio Kaneko woodblock prints - among them also larger formats. It would be nasty not to show you a few more. They are beautiful and so Japanese.

Dieter Wanczura
(April 2003, updated in July 2009)

Kunio Kaneko V

Amano Kunihiro - Biography
Ichi-Ichi-Ichiban
copyright Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko VI

Fumio Tomita - Biography
Mt. Myogi
copyright Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko VII

Koichi Sakamoto - Biography
Go Go Koinobori - Daisuke
copyright Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko VIII

Tatsuo Kawashima - Biography
Red Red Tree 2
copyright Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko IX

Yoshisuku Funasaka - Biography
Whisper Whisper 2
copyright Kunio Kaneko

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