Yuhan, Ito

Ito Yuhan ( 伊藤 雄半, 1882-1951) was primarily a landscape painter, but designed an extraordinary group of woodblock prints during the 1930’s for the publisher Nishinomiya. Yuhan’s print designs are usually characterized by vivid colors and subtle gradations. His unique style makes his prints look similar to watercolors, a key part of that style and technique is that his prints lack an outlining key block, enabling the colors to blend without lines. Yuhan’s soft style evokes the romantic beauty of Japan’s past; the absence of human figures adds to the sense of quiet timelessness.