Child in Aizu (Child with Butterflies)

Kiyoshi Saito

Kiyoshi Saito’s prolific printmaking career included a series of color woodcuts of children from Aizu, the westernmost of three regions in the Fukushima prefecture, wearing traditional clothing in bright color patterns and often shown with animals, insects, or toys.

While this untitled work appears to be from that period, it was not included in the Kiyoshi Saito Museum’s catalogue of his prints. However, all of the hallmarks of his work and his influences are evident in this joyful image of a small child watching the flight of two butterflies: bold shapes and vivid colors, a variety of patterned fabrics displayed in the clothing, and a simplified backdrop, with the focus on the subject experiencing a moment.

The influences of Japanese folk, traditional woodcut techniques and subjects, and the works of Fauvists and western Modernism come together in this portrait, which is not in the catalogue raisonne from the Kiyoshi Saito Museum of Art, Yanaizu, 2003 which illustrates and describes 699 of the artist's prints.