Japanese Print "Poem 69-17" by Maki Haku
Artist:Maki Haku
Title:Poem 69-17
Date:1969
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Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
The seal-script character featured and playfully abstracted by Maki in this print means “grandchild” (mago ?). Its repetition in six lively variations suggests many “grandchildren.” The surface of this print has a unique luster and velvety quality. Once the paper had been embossed and its layers laminated, Maki applied black poster color with a brush to the entire surface with the exception of the margins. He then laid a stencil over the edges and select parts of the blackened print, and used a baren (pressing pad with bamboo sheathing) to roll on a film of cobalt blue oil paint (diluted with turpentine), onto the exposed, raised parts of the embossed paper. Like his inspirational teacher, the artist-poet Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955), Maki often used the word “poem” in his titles. The hand-applied “color splashes,” red in the shape of a moon and yellow in the shape of a tear, also help suggest a poetic dimension.