Tokuriki Tomiki 40 Prints - Berna Cristina

Tomikichiro Tokuriki 徳力富吉郎, was born on March 22, 1902 and died in 1999 in Kyoto, Japan. Young Tomikichiro's first teacher was his grandfather. He signed himself as Tomiki.

Tomikichiro Tokuriki became a modern Japanese woodblock printmaker representing the 12th generation of a Kyoto artisan family designated as the official Kyoto print artists for the famous Honganji Temple. with a two-year preparatory class and four years of regular training. During his college years, the young artist uncovered his fervor for sosaku hanga prints, a movement and later a three year training at the Kyoto College of Art, graduating from Kyoto Art College in 1923. He graduated from Kyoto City School of Fine Arts and Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting in 1924. He was celebrated his hometown, by making woodblock prints of the city

With the assistance of an old carver and an Ukiyo-e printer, Tomikichiro Tokuriki learned everything to master the complete process of design, carving and printing himself.

After World War II, he established the Matsukyu Publishing Company to produce and distribute his own prints and other Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga pieces sosaku hanga prints - a movement that had spread from Tokyo to Kyoto. He also began to teach block-carving to artisans and artists, in later years many of them foreigners. In 1948 he also set up a sub-company called Koryokusha consisting of artists who would produce their prints under the financial umbrella of Matsukyu.

Tomokichiro Tokuriki is described as a charming man. He was an influential figure in Japan's contemporary print movement. He was the official artist of the Honganji Temple, and his work has been commissioned for various temples throughout Japan, including the famous shrines at Ise. His prints are in the permanent collections of the Museum Fine Arts Boston and the Museum of Modern Art New York.