MODERN JAPANESE PRINTMAKERS: POST-WAR TO NOW

Collected and curated by Danish Art Historian Malene Wagner, the exhibition is based on her newly published book Modern Japanese Printmakers: New Waves and Eruptions (Prestel Publishing) that draws on first-hand interviews and extensive research. It is the story of 44 modern Japanese artists who form a significant part of the long history of Japanese printmaking. A few were active at the beginning of the twentieth century, some worked leading up to the Second World War, while the majority took the print medium into the post-war era.

This exhibition takes 10 of those 44 artists and explores their place within the wider history of modern Japanese printmaking from the post-war period to the present. It showcases a rich variety of styles, techniques, and motifs, from subtle, contemplative works to bold, experimental prints, highlighting the breadth of innovation within the medium. Equally important are the artists’ individual stories—their inspirations, approaches, and personal connections to the Japanese print tradition—which bring depth and context to the works on display. Together, the exhibition offers a vivid snapshot of how post-war artists have shaped and continue to influence the evolution of Japanese printmaking.

Going beyond Hokusai and the Japanese prints of the Edo period (1603-1868) that greatly influenced the earlier generation of Western artists like Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso, the modern Japanese printmakers defined a period of profound artistic invention gaining internal acclaim in their lifetime at the Venice and São Paolo biennials, as well as in exhibitions at MoMA, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and LACMA.

MALENE WAGNER is a Danish Art Historian specialising in Japanese art and has worked with museums including The Ateneum (Helsinki), National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen) and MUDEC (Milan). She is also a contributing writer with contributions to several publications such as Stillness (Gestalten), Waraku Magazine, Kinfolk, Ark Journal, Apollo Magazine and Japanomania in the Nordic Countries (Yale University Press). Her book Modern Japanese Printmakers: New Waves and Eruptions was published in November 2025 as the first of its kind since 1975. Wagner has run her own art consultancy firm, Tiger Tanuki since 2014. To see more of her work, visit her website or Instagram. @tigertanuki_japaneseart