Tokuriki tomikichiro biography of michael

INTRODUCING RICHARD KEITH STEINER
WOODBLOCK PRINTMAKER
Chinshi Yu-shih, art critic

I have known Richard Steiner as a printmaker from his Hiroshima days in the early 1970s, when he first began studying under Masahiko Tokumitsu. His early works were assignments given him by Mr Tokumitsu, one of the founders of the Independent Printmaker Movement, and so reflected that style and technique. The emphasis was more on art than craft, on realistic renderings, more or less, than pure self-expression or abstract. After 10 years, he received his artist's name, Tosai, and a teacher's license, then opened his own workshop in Kyoto. His first student was a young Indian woman, an exchange college student. After her there followed many more foreigners, but the vast majority of students were and still are Japanese.

Richard Steiner was born in Michigan, USA, in 1939. His father was a code maker and breaker for the Army during the war, then a life-long postal employee. His mother was a court reporter and traveller. From her, Richard got his curiosity for going to other countries. Both he and his younger sister, Leslie, have strong creative talents; hers covers both two- and three-dimensional art, while his was originally photography, and after 1970, woodblock printmaking. He is married to Kimiko, a translater and owner of SAT, Steiner Art Translation. She is an art and religion translator with well over 100 publications to her name.

Quitting a career in fashion photography in New York City in 1970, Richard accepted a job to teach english in Hiroshima for a private school where he worked for one year. He then taught for another school and also privately until moving in 1972 to Kyoto, which he has made his permanent home.

This is a very brief introduction. As he always says, to understand him, one need only look at his prints; a true artist creates only self-portraits, regardless of what the subject matter seems to be. As the artist's moods change, so does the output o