Hiroharu Nii (1911-1974) Japanese, Woodcut. Signed and inscribed "50-1" bottom left. Artist's name in Serbian directly above. Title: "Women preventing arrest of union leader, Takaogi Coal Mine Strike, 1949." Depicts women laying down in front of a car to prevent the arrest of a union leader at the Takaogi Coal Mine Strike in 1949.

Depth: 1 1/4 in.

Overall size: 18 X 15 in.

Sight size: 13 X 10 in.

#1557 .

Hiroharu Nii was born in 1911 in Japan. His art was not exhibited in his lifetime, appearing first in exhibitions on Post-War artwork in 2012 and 2015. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Tokyo under Okada Saburosuke some time before 1939. In 1946 he helped form Nihon Hanga Undo Kyokai (Japan Print Movement Society), along with fellow artists Jiro Takidaira and Makoto Ueno, in an effort to support labor unions with their art. Along with several other artists they created a series of 15 woodcuts depicting laborers in their struggles to survive against the elements and their fellow man, of which Nii produced a full third. He later left the group in 1954 after a dispute over aspects of realism with Ueno. He passed away in 1974. This particular piece is the third one he produced for the 1949 series, expertly capturing the starkness of the scene and the desperation of the workers who use their own bodies as shields to keep their leader and movement safe.

Location Box 2