THE PORTRAIT GENRE IN JAPANESE ENGRAVING: THE SPECIFICS OF THE ARTISTIC LANGUAGE OF THE MID-20TH CENTURY SOSAKU-HANGA MASTERS SEKINO JUNICHIRO AND SAITO KIYOSHI

The article examines the iconic graphic works of the mid-20th century, executed in the portrait genre, by two prominent representatives of the sosaku-hanga movement, Sekino Junichiro and Saito Kiyoshi. Throughout the history of graphic art in Japan, this genre was addressed to one degree or another by masters of different eras in accordance with the demands of the time. A significant stage for this genre was the Edo period (1603–1868), due to the interest of ukiyo-e masters in the peculiarities of urban life. In the subsequent Meiji period (1868–1912), printmakers began to turn to portraits more often, but solved artistic problems within the canon characteristic of ukiyo-e. The greatest attention to this genre, from the point of view of conveying the psychological characteristics of the depicted, was shown by sosaku-hanga engravers, especially in the mid-20th century. This is primarily due to a number of cultural and historical events that influenced art, particularly engraving. It is important to note the specific features of the art of the period in question, namely the emergence of the idea of free self-expression and interest in the individuality of a person. Along with other changes, they were brought from the West in the first half of the 20th century. These ideas found vivid expression in the works of mid-20th century masters. Sosaku-hanga is a multifaceted movement, where each engraver chose his own path of developing a creative language, while having a common source of inspiration and a way of implementing ideas. This article will examine portraits not only by Sekino Junichiro and Saito Kiyoshi, who combine both Western European and Japanese artistic languages in their work, but also the works of a number of masters of previous eras, in order to identify and reveal interest in depicting the individuality of a person. It can be concluded that interest in the display of individuality appeared gradually, due to the artistic tasks solved by masters in engraving. The greatest attention to this theme was shown by masters of sosaku-hanga, in particular, Sekino Junichiro and Saito Kiyoshi.