Kokeshi Creative By Kenichi Murakami Japan

Creative kokeshi doll: sosaku kokeshi representing a boy by Kenichi Murakami beautiful minimalist stylization, beautiful wood grain  circa 1970 His Kokeshi is all about celebrating the color and patterns and graining of natural wood, with very little ornamentation and painted surfaces. Most of his decoration is made by the use of wood-burned techniques on his favorite wood, that being Enju, (Pagoda Tree). Winner of numerous awards, Murakami was born in Yamagata. Although his family were renowned wood craftsmen, Kenichi studied oil painting in the early 1940s, but began training and creating Sosaku Kokeshi as early as 1946. Since 1962, his dolls have received numerous prestigious awards, including the coveted Prime Minister's Prize. In 1976, his dolls were exhibited in West Germany and the United States. Today, he operates several galleries in Yamagata Prefecture, including one in Ginza Matsuzakaya. His style: He primarily creates minimalist dolls, favoring various woodworking techniques. Kenichi loved capturing the innocence of a young child and prided himself on producing beautifully textured pieces, created by deep carvings and horizontal cut lines to suggest and reinforce the subject. His dolls are painted, as if to illustrate the yukata, or left unadorned, with simple lines suggesting the use of a snow coat (Mino) during the winter season. Sumi-e was often used to capture the spirit of the subject.