III, Ōura Nobuyuki; Yosuke Akiba, Publishers 21st Century, Inc.; Okabe Print Studio; Print House OM

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Ōura Nobuyuki; Yosuke Akiba, Publishers 21st Century, Inc.; Okabe Print Studio; Print House OM, III
Ōura Nobuyuki; Yosuke Akiba, Publishers 21st Century, Inc.; Okabe Print Studio; Print House OM, III
Ōura Nobuyuki , Yosuke Akiba, Publishers 21st Century, Inc. , Okabe Print Studio , Print House OM
III
1982–1983, Showa period (1926–1989)
Ōura Nobuyuki, artist
born 1949
Yosuke Akiba, Publishers 21st Century, Inc., publisher
Okabe Print Studio, printer
Print House OM, printer
III, 1982–1983, Showa period (1926–1989)
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: screen print; lithograph
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 77 x 57.4 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 30 5/16 x 22 5/8 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Fund
Accession number: 2002.0032.03
Not on display
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Mobile Memory
Using collage and photomontage techniques, Ōura presents a fragmented view of Emperor Hirohito (1901–1989) and his diminished political power following World War II. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, Hirohito was forced to reject his imperial claim to divinity. In this print, Ōura ironically calls attention to Hirohito’s postwar status as human by including divine figures from Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and 11th-century Japanese novelist Murasaki Shikibu’s “The Tale of Genji” in the background. In the foreground, the branch of a cherry blossom tree blocks Hirohito’s mouth and, presumably, his ability to speak.

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