Description

Japan’s appetite for European and American art intensified
during the American occupation after World War II. Western
ideas spread quickly, facilitating change. For instance, while
it had been customary for Japanese printmakers to be trained
through apprenticeships, the younger generation was exposed
to a wide range of techniques and styles in the Americanized
art curricula developing at universities. Etching, mezzotint,
and lithography, originally rare in Japan, became increasingly
popular as Westerners discovered--and created markets
for--contemporary Japanese prints.