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Background
Iwami Reika (岩見禮花) was born in Tokyo in 1927, but lived in Kyushu for five years and later in Kanagawa. From the age of 23 she worked for 13 years as an office employee at the Athenee Français language institute, while also studying doll-making and prints at the Sunday course of Japan's first co-educational school, the vocational Bunka Gakuin (文化学院), from which she graduated in 1955. Iwami also studied at other workshops, including an eleven-year apprenticeship as a doll-maker with the female painter-turned-dollmaker Hori Ryûjo (堀柳女 1897-1984, born Yamada Matsue). Iwami finally devoted herself to printmaking beginning in 1954.
Iwami cited the influence of Onchi Kôshirô and Sekino Jun'ichirô, but, above all, Shinagawa Takumi (in particular, his collage work as well as his use of driftwood). Iwami was also a haiku poet who recognized a relationship between printmaking and poetry: "Haiku is a disciplined study. It forces one to eliminate what is not necessary, and that's why I use it as a spiritual exercise for my prints." [see Tolman ref.] She was a prolific artist who achieved recognition at the same level as her male colleagues. The novelist and collector James Michener (1907-1997) called her "the first woman in the history of Japanese prints ... to attain full stature." [see ref. below]
As was one of the nine founding members of the Joryû Hanga Kyôkai (Women’s Print Association: 女流版画協会), also referred to as the Nihon Joryû Hanga Kyôkai (Japan Women’s Print Association: 日本女流版画協会), Iwami particpated in the group’s debut exhibition in October 1956 featuring their etchings, relief prints, and lithographs in a Tokyo gallery. For ten years, until its disbanding in 1965, the society continued to stage exhibitions, culminating in a show in New York City in 1965, before its members went on to pursue solo careers.
This information was based on Fiorillo: https://viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts/sosaku_hanga/iwami_reika.html
Design
Among her early works were several designs that foreshadowed, in part, some of the forms and compositional styles that would define her mature oeuvre, although they still retain the influence of Onchi and his circle. In "Inner Moon of Snow Flowers" there is the Onchi-like prominence and careful placement of circles. Iwami's fondness for metallic pigments is already evident here, although only the gold colorant approaches the refinement of her later works. The silver, in contrast, is applied roughly in a spray of large, irregular particles.
This remarkable and rare work is a fine example of the artist's early prints, with swelling waves of the sea and metallic-pigmented circles. Her distinct use of found or simulated driftwood is not present here, nor are her patterns of wire mesh used in later years.
Iwami's prints can be found in many private collections and museum's, including the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; Art Gallery of New South Wales; Art Institute of Chicago; Birmingham Museum of Art (Alabama); British Museum, London; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Cincinnati Art Museum; Harvard Art Museums (MA); Hayama Museum of Modern Art; Honolulu Museum of Art; Indianapolis Museum of Art; Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura; National Museum of Asian Art, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portland Art Museum; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA; Worchester Art Museum (MA); and Yale University Art Gallery.
References:
- Blakemore, Frances: Who's Who in Modern Japanese Prints. New York: Weatherhill, 1975, pp. 54-55.
- Merritt, Helen and Yamada, Nanako: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints 1900-1975. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1992, p. 48.
- Michener, James: The Modern Japanese Print. An Appreciation. Rutland: Tuttle, 1962 (deluxe portfolio) or 1968 (trade edition), pp. 44-46.
- Petit, G. and Arboleda, A.: Evolving Techniques in Japanese Woodblock Prints. Kodansha, 1977, pp. 56-57 and fig. 28.
- Smith, Lawrence: The Japanese Print Since 1900: Old Dreams and New Visions. London, British Museum Press, 1983, pp. 4-5, 111, 114, 129, nos 102-103.
- Smith, Lawrence: Contemporary Japanese Prints: Symbols of a Society in Transition. London: British Museum Press, 1985, pp. 30-31, , no. 14.
- Smith, Lawrence: Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989. London: British Museum Press, 1994, p. 26 and no. 112.
- Tolman, Mary and Tolman, Norman: People Who Make Japanese Prints: A Personal Glimpse. Tokyo: Sobunsha, 1982, pp. 15, 30-43.
- Yoshida Tôshi and Yuki Rei: Japanese Print-Making. Rutland and Tokyo: Tuttle: 1966, p. 101 (Plate 17) & 157.
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