Fu Takenaka – Staring Happily

Original woodblock print, hand-signed and numbered 13/27 by the artist. First published in the Heisei period (1989 – 2019).

An owl sits on a branch up in the trees and is described by the title as staring happily.

The print was made by Fu Takenaka in an edition of only 27 numbered prints. There are also a number of A.P. prints, so the actual number of prints with this design is a bit higher then 27.

The print is in good condition, but please be aware that the paper is not flat but has some large wrinkles. One of the pictures shows the print sideways, so there the wave-like wrinkles can be seen. Beyond that, there is also a printing imperfection with some of the yellow ink used for the beak also applied a little outside of it.

Image size (excluding margins): 23.8 * 18.5 cm (9.4 * 7.3 in).

The print is in very good state. The paper is a bit wavy, as is the case for all copies of this print we have had.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Fu Takenaka (1945 – 2022) was a successful woodblock print artist. She had a background in design, fashion and fabric, and transitioned to woodblock printing later in life. Her favorite themes were temples in and around Kyoto and owls. She depicted these in a dreamlike style, very distinct from other Japanese woodblock print artists.

Fu Takenaka collaborated with the Kyoto based woodblock print publisher Unsodo, but designed, carved and printed the works herself, from start to finish. They were published in limited editions, hand-signed and numbered in pencil. Since her passing Unsodo has started to complete her limited editions. Currently we have both the first of these as well as a number of remaining life-time editions on offer.

See an overview of Fu Takenaka's woodblock prints