Catalog (175)

This print Z-446B was one of a small number of creations that he put on hard, gold-edged board. Daniel Tretiak wrote that these prints “were printed first on very thin paper, which was then ‘wrapped’ around heavy shikishi board. They are lithographs not done from wood blocks. Done in 1999, this work measures 7.25in x 8.25in, is in excellent condition, and one of an edition of 77.

The striking kanji means Rising. Maki produced this image in 1970 as a modest black on white print. This print is Poem 70- 48 (rising): The kanji,which is the print's core theme, is reiterated in the title. When this print first came out, it must have in a winner: 59/151 . This print has a golden yellow sun and a light blue tear or splash to give it verve. This is the Maki style. A year later in 1971 Maki produced a Big Red, the same character shown here was done as a Red kanji in striking image. Poem 71-50.

22 31 This huge image was done in 1983 as a silk screen print. Condition is excellent overall except for tape remnants at the very top. These will not come through and will not affect the print when framed or shown to friends. The white circle sometimes called a Sun, shimmers as it does in many Maki prints. 27" x 31", 41/60 No chop For shipping Packed between two strong pieces of plywood.

Haku Maki Poem 71-25 63/100 This print is the cover image of my book ,The life and works of Haku Maki I have never offered it for sale. the Front edicts Maki’s rendering of I or Me It is a bold big Red the red is embossed on a black ink field this print is 20 ‘ x 30” after being restored in the US by Michael Minckler it is in very good shape there is a crease on the front only visible from the back The print has great red kanji. Placed in a huge matte and framed it will stand out in any home. There have been no copies on sale for a number of years. Sold as is where is. Please ask for any additional information Thanks! Sold with signed certificate of authenticity. SHIPPING: All buyers should pay $100 for insured EMS USPS express shipping. But I will pay $50. RETURNS: Accepted within 7 Days of receipt should the description of the print not be accurate. Since my descriptions are as detailed as possible (see feedback), “buyer remorse” is not an acceptable reason to return the print. If you are uncertain about any information I’ve posted, please ask prior to purchasing. If returned, buyer pays return shipping and refund is for cost of print only. Print must be returned in same condition.

Created in the 1980s, Haku Maki did a series of rarely seen prints called Drop. They seemed to depict oil dropped onto the surface of water. Drop 7 is one of those prints. It is no. 32 of 203 and it measures 9.75in W x 11in H. As with many old prints, it has tape residue on the four edges of the back from a previous framing but there is no impact on the face of the print.

Every so often, Maki decided to create an all-white print to which he added two or three small bits of color. Daniel Tretiak talked of Maki’s fondness for adding balance to his prints especially with the use of moons or splashes of color. Poem Y is an example. The print is beautifully textured with the colored spots placed in smooth areas among the overall embossing. It measures 17 1/8 square inches and is no.15 of an edition of 50.

Figure 1 is one of a large group of prints that were themselves usually large in size and in subject—one Chinese character in red on a black background. Daniel Tretiak called these prints Big Reds. Maki tended to insert one or more of such prints in the Figure, Poem and Work series. This Figure is number 8 of an edition of 50. It measures 14in wide X 21.75in high. There is tape residue on all four sides of the back—it has no impact on the front. Like virtually all of his Big Reds, this Maki print is striking, attention-getting in any room.

Haku Maki did some purely white prints—some had a small splash of color, others had none. This one, 81-3, offers three white plump persimmons. Persimmons were an oft-used subject, sometimes a single depiction of the fruit, sometimes two, but very rarely three persimmons and even more rarely done only in white. The print measures 9.5in W x 10.75in H and is in excellent condition. An edition of 130, this one is number 90.

78-2 (Water) In 1978 Haku Maki was nearing the end of his artistic effort using kanji (Chinese characters) as the main theme of his work. This print is one bold kanji, for Water. To make it easier for his gaijin admirers to know what it meant, he wrote "water' in the bottom margin. The effect if the print is bold, the character stretches across the paper; it has a gold Sun (akin to a splash for accent and decoration, near the center of the print), and the characteristic Maki seal in the lower right area. This is 183/203., This image appeared around the same time as other large, single character ones: Mountain, Bamboo, Flavor and Heart, etc. This print is in what one might call a medium size: Length is 17 ", width about 9-1/2 ". Shortly after, Maki did Water as a large print, roughly 16" x 32". The condition is very good, not perfect. There is a little foxing on the front please write to me for any questions. During his lifetime, 1924 to 2000, Maki did well over 2000 images, making him one of Japan's most prolific print makers. He was also very good. His prints are clear, deceptively simple, standout, very Japanese but not representational.

This is a quite large Maki Persimmon print This is Work 74-67 Haku Maki did prints with Persimmon as a main theme from the early 1970s for well over a decade. This is a fairly large image: it shows one persimmon growing out from the tree, with leaves coming off the branch. The leaves are very clear: they have been tipped with shellac so they look very shiny . This is 43/154, here Maki used ink the color of the persimmon when putting his seal on the print. To the best of my knowledge this is only the second copy of this print I have seen in more than ten years. It was not treated well at the beginning of its life: a framing company put tape on it man-years ago and the tape remnants cannot be removed. They are shown in the images of the back. Otherwise condition is very good, the persimmon is clean front and back and the front is clean. Tape remnants on the front

In 1968 and 69 Haku Maki produced Poem 5 for Festive Wine. That image was a paradigm of clarity as to what the kanji or Woman ought to look like. It was a smooth svelte character. Yet at this same time, he also did this print, a tall gangly woman. It is Poem 69-50. She looks as if she is askelter, not all “together”. Or is the left leg longer than the right one? The print itself is done in the Maki manner: Size 10.5 “ x 10.5”. Maki used splashes on his prints to give dynamism to the field: sometimes just one, sometimes two. Here: a yellow and red splash and a Maki seal.

Dealing with challenges and difficulties can keep your mind sharp. The print is number 140 of 152.

This is Maki's print 71-2, which tells us it was the second print that he created in 1971.

During the 1970s, Haku Maki liked occasionally to do haniwa, depictions of terracotta figures that were funerary objects used during the 3rd to 6th centuries in Japan. This one—71-2—is a face rather than a complete figure. Created in 1971, the print is 50 of an edition of 151. It measures 5.75in x 8.5in. The print is in very good condition, with faint tape residue on the two top corners of the back, with no impact on the face.

This horizontal print, created in 1973, is Work 73-14A, a dramatic depiction of the kanji for Dragon. It is 17 of 103 and measures 16.25inW x 11.5inH. Maki did perhaps a dozen dragons and this is one of the most striking.

Poem 71-76 is a yellow-gold print with a bit of a paisley influence. It is number 28 of an edition of 154. Created in 1971, it measures 13in wide x 19.5in high. It is in very good condition. There is tape residue on the back but the front is perfect. .

Through his career, Haku Maki did a wide array of Chinese characters used in the Japanese language as well (kanji). The large prints that Daniel Tretiak called Big Reds were such kanji. Among Maki’s depictions were black kanji on white backgrounds, some stark, some playful, some easily decipherable, others with which he took great liberties. The artistic possibilities that kanji offered were a fascination of his. This broad-brushed embossed print, Poem 72-55, was done in 1972. It measures 9 3/8in W x 10.5in H and is no. 4 of an edition of 202. The print is in good condition; there are tape remnants on the four corners of the back but they have no impact on the face.

In his book Daniel Tretiak says: “Maki’s kanji prints were normally of one main color against a white or black background. Poem 71-29 below is an exception—and all the more interesting because of it. In this print, Maki has created an abstract Person—the splashes of color show the head, eyes, shoulder, and two legs.” It measures 8.75in W X 12in H and is no. 73 of an edition of 152.