Catalog (175)

The third part of Note 10 looks at the prints Maki probably did in the 1969 to 1975 period but that, at the time of Dan Tretiak's writing this, had not yet come to light.

This research note was edited by Lois Dougan Tretiak whose assistance is gratefully noted.

Poem S B. This small and unpretentious print was a sleeper. Whoever sold it knew not what he had. Indeed neither did I until well after it came here to Beijing. It is a very rare 1968 Maki print. Not 1967 and not 1969. It has the kanji for Rope in the center and that is placed on a subtle but firmly done kanji for STONE - but the kanji is in there ass backwards. The correct rendering is in image 5. Mysteries abound.I have never seen the sub-title SB in a Maki print. I do not know what it means. We have seen FP but not SB. This is a rare image: the numbering 1/50 suggests this was the first image of the run--but it could have been the only one. Did Maki only do one? The paper that was ordered by Maki came from a paper maker he knew who prepared paper for him. (I do not know who he was.) The paper had the distinctive “moon surface” Maki used countless times in his prints. Note this is fairly early Maki: he employs only one splash. In frane 5 I show how Maki would have done the Stone kanji if he were not being cute: straight up (as made in Beijing). Size: 21.5 x 21.5cm.

In the period 1966-67, Haku Maki did two large series with Song as the theme. There was Flower Song, a series of 10 prints. And there was Animal Song which was Maki’s Asian Zodiac series, with 12 images. It was also a small series with small editions--50 in the case of Animal Song (released in Kyoto, so very hard to find: only one friend has the full set), I do not know who has the full set of Flower Song. Equally rare is Moon Song. Many years ago I saw Moon Song 1 and did not buy it; this time I snapped it up. I show it below. Is it a necklace, as one may call the “companion piece” shown beside it but done in 1981. Moon Song is simple and elegant. No complicated calligraphy. No snappy colors. “Just” an embossed design of large beads forming a necklace and one small one coming with a small two colored bead in the center. It has been hidden for so long! copyright Daniel Tretiak 2013

In the mid-1960s, Haku Maki was firmly launching his career as an important Japanese print maker. He did a series of prints of which a long and key series was the Alphabet A – Z. In turn, the Alphabet was the first series of what came to be many series of prints, all of which Maki called the Poem series. Prints in the Poem series continued to be produced until 1972. He produced all of the Alphabet in 1966 or part of it in that year and part in the next. Even at this old age I do not know the precise years. Furthermore, after a long effort of collecting the series, I do not have images for all 26 letters. I have never seen Poems G I J K L M N O S. The images are some of Maki’s quite good prints but none laid the ground work for important other work. I cannot make a case that Poem U,a square woman, is a strong example of what the kanji for woman should be. The pink sun and the quarter moon used in Poem D were used later on but I do not feel that is because they were used successfully in this series. The black and white image is from David J.Finkelstein in NY. Here we show Poem A B C D E F H P Poem D's crescent moon appeared elsewhere. We show one example. C-1 was re-discovered in a chance find in our files. It is prime Japanese hieroglyphics: hoki moji or a kind of pointillism. Copyright 2013 Daniel Tretiak

Q R T U V W X Y (*) Z Poem T is a distant Predecessor of image 10 Most if not all the prints in this series were sold through Red Lantern Gallery in Kyoto. missing J K L M N O - other than G and S. U is clearly a predecessor of Poem 59-55

This colorful print is an early Maki embossed print. It is a quite small print done in a very low run. Only 30 copies were made. Maki started doing 50 copies by 1962. Earlier he may have lacked the confidence to do runs of that size so he did 30 as shown here The three red suns are dramatic, The print is signed in white ink, an early Maki touch. The 3 suns shimmer. The title is in kanji – a rare Maki style. This is Ji hao 31 [Signal 31]. The paper is double thick, an early use of such paper by Maki. The horizontal print measures 21in x 9in.

Daniel Tretiak's Research Note 12 took a look back at Haku Maki's works from 1965 to 1970.

Maki’s earliest works were done in the late 1950s and remained rather unknown until the late 1960s. He first started producing prints using red ink in 1965 and this is probably the first example. It is also what I call a Big Red. It is very abstract and it fills up the whole sheet. Maki wanted his prints to have balance. This has it: the red field is pierced by three blue squares: two on the left side of the orange meteor-like strokes, and one on the right side. The field is composed of small squares of horizontal and/or vertical strokes.The print is 16.1 x 22.9inches(41 x 58.4cm). I think this print is better than Heap-like prints but on a par with the Emanation 65B print shown in the last frame of this listing. This Big Red has a weaker paper than later prints; why? Michael Minckler holds the view that the reason is Maki was still working his way toward the two-layer paper that came to characterize much of his work from 1966 on. Two layers make for a stronger paper and allows for larger prints. A thinner paper does not lend itself to large prints--which Maki evidently wanted to make. By the same token the image in frame 8 of a Maki print done in 1958 is embossed but on paper thinner than the 1965 print shown here:Maki was working his way to The Maki Style. Proportion 10 done in 1966 also shows the embossing in full play with bold abstract calligraphy. The yellow print Proportion 10 is 50 x 40 cm.It is a very early print using two sheets of paper.

Haku Maki's Poem Z depicts a Heart by any other name. Maki began to use this theme early in his artistic life. The character was often vertical but this is the only time it was at an angle from the center and seemingly lacking in one stroke, Hence it is an unusual design and intellectually challenging. Its meaning is not immediately evident even to the literati. My curator in Beijing figured it out when she was opening the package and tilted it a bit. The print is large and subtle. This is Poem Z. As such it is the last in the Maki alphabet series of 1967.

In 1966 Haku Maki produced one of his many abstract series. He did Cell and he did Proportion Here I show Proportion 10 the white strokes appear against a beautiful yellow background . Above the strokes is a white Sun. Wow there are two Maki seals one at the top right and another at the lower left There is a red splash in the center .two images f Proportion 9 are added where are Proportion 1 through 8? 43/50

This note discusses newly emerged prints (it was written in July 2014). Daniel Tretiak wrote: Please enjoy. I own A C W and Flower Song 5.

This note looks at newly emerged prints that were created between 1968 and 1980. They include Work 616 (Moon and Bird) and the Figure series of prints.

In 1970 the famous collector of Japanese art Felix Juda commissioned Haku Maki to produce at least 3 different sets of cards for greeting and thanks. Here we show three. The 4th image may have been one such card or a small print. I have owned it for many years and am still studying it. The ones done for Juda varied in attractiveness. The green one is vintage Maki: good design, good color, and good composition. It is only 5”x 5” but packs a wallop. It shows the kanji for Stone (pronounced To in Japanese) with a small yellow sun added for oomph It is the functional equivalent of a splash. The balance and integrity of the print are clear. The other Juda collection images vary from bizarre to plain. The one with four different images includes a pair of pursed lips, an eye and what? The other shows what I think can be a fishhook. How many other images did Maki do for Juda? Felix Juda collected many works by the famous Onchi Koshiro who of course was Maki’s first and only teacher. The student honored the teacher by doing this series for the teacher’s fan, Juda. I believe all were done in or about 1970. They have the style of that year even as they were not dated. The little blue at the right is also untitled; it may have been done for Juda too It shows a crescent moon and two kanji -- nice balance, nice composition. The last 3 may also be from the Juda Collection but I am not certain. Juda (1909 – 1997) was a senior investment director of Sutro & Co. of Los Angeles , where he was born and died.

The print consists of vertical strokes, a mid-1960s series of six different images. The sun is large and shimmering. The paper is very heavy; the print is in good condition. It measures 12.5 “ x 18”.

In 1971 Haku Maki produced two large prints, one Sun and one Moon. Sun shows a dramatic sun with a red dash all surrounded by a gold field-- Poem 71-100. Poem 72-101 is Moon with a similar design. There is a dark spot in the center. Each print was produced in editions of 156. This pair was offered privately and on eBay by a very insightful seller from Tennessee. After these presumably successful runs Maki did a smaller pair, each with the same title and same design. Both Sun and Moon are surrounded by a fiery corona. The seller’s offerings were rare sightings;the small one from my collection is also quite rare. copyright 2014 daniel tretiak

This is one of Maki's dramatic Big Red prints, a kanji on a black background.

This note, another of the many Daniel Tretiak wrote in 2015,looks at newly emerged early works of Haku Maki.