Moements with Tanigami Konan (1879-1928)

Illustration from Seiyo Soka Zufu (A Picture Album of Western Plants and Flowers), 5-volumes of woodblock prints celebrating the four seasons, published in 1917.

Tanigami Konan was one of the top Japanese naturalist artists of the Shin Hanga or “new print” movement which began in 1912.

Artists of the Shin Hanga era were not only influenced by Western techniques of realism but also by the Impressionist movement in France. Studio teams consisting of artists, carvers, printers and publishers created prints with lavish illustrations of beautiful women, landscapes and nature themes, often of birds and flowers, all rendered superbly in vibrant colour and aimed at the emerging western art market.

Tanigami Konan’s style of mixing western flowers with the traditional asymmetrical Japanese style of design, produced some of the finest botanical illustrations ever printed in woodblock form.