Tetsuro Komai
Japanese, 1920-1976
Head of a Man, ca. 1950
Woodcut on paper, 19/30, 16 x 11 3/4 inches
Gift of Barbara Fahs Charles in memory of her father, Charles Burton Fahs
1980.7.6
Tetsuro Komai is best known for his copper plate etchings begun around 1935. With the exception of time in France (April 1954-November 1955), Komai spent his prolific though short career in Japan. During the early to mid-1950s he turned his attention from color abstract etchings to a period known as shiro to kuro no sekai (自と黒の世界), the “world of black and white.” In this work, Komai pays homage to the okubie (tia), “large-head portrait” tradition connected to the late 19th century Japanese kabuki (歌舞伎) actor prints. The alternating patterns of black and white ink on the face reference Utagawa Kunimasa’s 1796 large heaf portrait of actor Ichikawa Ebizō.