KANAMORI, Yoshio

Yoshio Kanamori (January 24, 1922 – December 9, 2016) was born in Takaoka (Toyama Prefecture), in the center of Japan’s main island.  The famous woodcut master Shiko Munakata had relocated nearby, after having suffered the complete destruction of his Tokyo studio in 1945.  This gave Kanamori an opportunity to study woodblock techniques directly from the acclaimed master.  Kanamori’s interest had developed after reading a treatise on woodblock techniques by Nagase Yoshio.  This encouraged Kanamori to study at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, of which he however did not graduate.  He first exhibited his prints with the Kokuga-kai group in 1950, and that same year helped Munakata found the print magazine 'Etchu hanga'.  He was also a founding member with Munakata of the Nihon Hanga-in (Japanese Print Institute) in 1952. In 1958 he exhibited jointly with his master in a show which toured the United States.  His richly colored woodcuts are dominated by the austere mountainous landscape of his native Toyama.  These moody renditions increasingly were populated by fancifully treated elements such as birds, flowers, feathers and butterflies.  Kanamori Yoshio (金守世士夫)