Title : Portrait of Hartnett

Artist : Onchi Koshiro

Date : c. 1946 - 1949

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : William Hartnett arrived in Japan together with the Occupation forces and was a sort of culture czar, charged with organizing concerts and exhibitions for the American Occupation personnel. He was befriended by Onchi Köshirö, who first introduced him to the work of the hanga artists. At that time, hanga were not well known in Japan but Hartnett, along with a scholar and print historian Oliver Statler and prolific writer and collector James Michener, respected and encouraged the innovative work of the new printmakers and became passionate collectors. Thanks to their efforts, the demand for prints by Sösaku hanga (Creative Print) artists increased, prices escalated, and some artists could even live from the proceeds of their work, something unimaginable before or during the war. - “Prelude to the print” curated by Wendy Bennett 11/7/2007 - 1/20/2008

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