Portrait of a Girl in a medallion with inscription: Eiga kyoiku koro kensho, black-and-white woodcut, 30 x 25 cm (passe-partout cut-out), marked Munakata and with the “Mune” seal (Su)

Munakata Shikó is one of the most prominent representatives of the Japanese graphic art of the 20th century and he is also considered to be one of the most important masters of the Japanese woodcut of modern times. From the early stage, he stood up behind the idea of the sosaku hanga movement, which defined the creation of graphics as a coherent process linking the art of drawing with engraving and printing skills. When he met Yanagi Sóecue, a prominent representative of the Japanese mingei art proclaiming a return to folk traditions, he began to cooperate with the members of this movement.

The most typical of the artist's expressions were the stylised figures of women and girls, often associated with the traditions of the Shinto cult, sometimes supplemented by calligraphic inscriptions incorporated into the overall composition of the work, mostly in the black-and-white combination, later also in the colour versions made using the urazaishiki technology. He considered the carving work to be more important than the actual painting and made an extraordinary emphasis on it during the production, which was reflected in the characteristic, vibrant, moving composition of his works full of sharp features.

Also, the print offered is a characteristic of Munakats's work, whereby we can admire his fast carving work on a block and a concise, minimalist composition made up of a girl's bust and text supplemented so as it typical for the painter's works.