"Macaw in the Dark" by Kôitsu Ishiwata (JPN, 1897-1987), original Japanese woodblock print, artist seal with siganture of "Yoshimi," based on earlier print by Tsuruoka Kakunen, c. 1950s, sheet size - 10" x 20 1/4"
 
Kôitsu Ishiwata was born in Tokyo in 1897 as Shoichiro Ishiwata. He began his career studying design, fabric dyeing and Japanese-style painting. By the 1920s, he had earned a reputation as fabric designer working for Yokohama’s Nozawaya department store. It was none other than Hasui Kawase, a leader of the Shin Hanga, or "New Print," movement, that spurred Kôistu’s shift to the woodblock medium. In 1930, Ishiwata dedicated himself to the print medium and assumed his name.  Prints by Ishiwata can be found in many private collections as well as public institutions such as the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Harvard Art Museums, MA; Honolulu Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire, Bruxelles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC;