Childbirth

A devout Buddhist, Munakata Shiko combined inspiration from Buddhist scriptures with a love for folk art traditions to create his distinctive style. Severely nearsighted, Munakata once said, “I don’t need my eyes anymore, really. I work from my heart. I see with my mind’s eye.” With his nose only a few inches from the woodblock, Munakata swiftly carved the images he pictured in his head.

While growing up in Aomori, Munakata always carried a bottle of India ink and an account pad so he could paint when inspired. Though he tried a career as an oil painter in the style of Vincent van Gogh, by 1930 he had found printmaking a more effective means of getting in touch with his Japanese artistic roots. Often called “the Picasso of Japan,” Munakata gained international acclaim by winning competitions in Switzerland (1952), Brazil (1955), and Italy (1965), and thus establishing himself internationally as a leading printmaker.

In Munakata’s series of woodcuts, "Ten Great Disciples of the Buddha (Shaka Ju Dai-deshi)," created in 1939, his subjects were modern and personal interpretations of age-old themes. Even a subject that appears secular to a foreign eye is inspired by Buddhist traditions. "Childbirth," in which an infant floats on a pond, surrounded by joyous nudes, echoes the traditional rendering in Japanese Buddhist woodcuts of the Buddha’s birth, washing, and first steps.