Sekino Jun'ichirō (関野準一郎) (artist 1914 – 1988)

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Biography:

Jun'ichirō Sekino was born in Aomori prefecture, the northernmost region of Honshu, and thus the boonies. Helen Merritt wrote: "Sekino Jun'ichirō (1914-1988), like Munakata Shikō, was a native of Aomori. Sekino suggested that the Aomori region offered a particularly rich soil for artistic development. Although it was predominantly agricultural, it was one of the slowest districts to adopt modern farming methods. The people of Aomori had little voice in politics or economics, a situation which inclined them to turn their attention to cultural pursuits such as art and literature rather than politics."

"Sekino Jun'ichirō was eleven years younger than Munakata and vividly remembered following him and carrying his supplies as the older boy dashed around Aomori sketching passionately."

Quoted from: Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years by Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1990, page 239.

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"Junichiro Sekino taught himself the techniques of print-making from books. He claimed to have been influenced by the artists Sharaku, Hiroshige, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rembrandt and Anders Zorn, but most strongly by Durer. Sekino's prints cover a wide range of subjects which include family portraits, children, buildings, and landscapes."

"During World War II, Sekino was assigned to work in a factory and put in charge of the traveling theatrical groups who entertained the factory workers and troops. Sekino became friendly with the performers and made prints featuring prominent actors and puppeteers from sketches he did during the performances."

Quoted from: Sotheby's sale catalogue of The Roy G. Cole Collection of Fine Sosaku Hanga, New York, 1990.

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Even before his twentieth birthday Jun'ichirō Sekino was already involved with woodblock prints: he made them together with friends while still at High School, and he knew Shikō Munakata (a few years his senior) from boyhood (Munakata was also from Aomori prefecture). From 1932 he exhibited with the Nihon Hanga Kyōkai. In the 30s he studied with Kōshirō Onchi and with Senpan Maekawa. After WWII he became especially well-known in USA, but his star rose rapidly elsewhere in the world as well. His work is characterized by its technical accomplishment and variety.

Source: Eric van den Ing at Saru Gallery

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There is 1 print by Sekino Jun'ichirō in the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester; 2 prints at the Chazen Museum of Art, with one unillustrated; more than 100 prints by Sekino or that he assisted with in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; there are close to 80 prints and related books with Sekino illustrations in them in the National Museum of Asian Art; 9 prints in the Philadelphia Museum of Art; 90 prints at the Honolulu Museum of Art; 28 prints at the Art Institute of Chicago; 54 prints in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; 11 in the Achenbach Foundation; 32 prints at the Harvard Art Museums; 2 at the Chazen Museum of Art; 3 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art; 34 prints in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; 83 in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, many unillustrated online; there are two Sekino prints at the University of Michigan; 44 at Smith College; 7 at the Mead Art Museum, Amherst College;