Ryohei Tanaka captures the soft tranquility of rural Kyoto. His precise etching technique and his representational style are highly traditional, yet his casual perspective is not. His subjects are inspired by his travels through the Japanese countryside, where he captures the serene emptiness of the places that he loves.

Like a photographer or the Impressionists, Tanaka prefers not to overcontrive the composition of a scene, but to catch a natural, spontaneous glimpse of the world. He shows us a variety of textures which appeal not only to our eyes but our sense of touch - spiky tree branches that tell us of the passage of seasons, and thick blankets of grass or snow which seem to silence activity and ease the mind.

Viewing Tanaka's etchings, we might imagine that we have just paused to glance through a window or have wandered off to a quiet place.

1933 Osaka

1963 Studied etching technique
under Prof.Furuno
Fogg Museum, Boston
Cincinnati Art Museum
Museum of Fine Arts - Boston
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York
David Rockefeller Collection
Cleveland Museum
Minnesota Museum of Art
Ronald Reagan

1966 Began showing annually at JPA
(Japan Print Association), Tokyo
Metropolitan Art Museum
1967 Yamada Art Gallery, Chicago
1968 The 1st Biennale International
di incision, Pistoia, Italy
1971 Yoseido Gallery, Tokyo
1972 Modern Japanese Print Show at
Sapporo Olympics
1972 Metropolitan Art Museum, New York
1973 International Print Competition,
San Francisco Museum of Art
1974 Yamada Art Gallery, Kyoto
1975 Japan Gallery, New York
1977 Modern Japanese Print Show,
Belgium
1979 Traveling exhibition of Japanese
modern prints in Beijing and
Shanghai
1980 Azuma Gallery, Seattle
1983 Yoseido Gallery, Tokyo
1984 Gilbert Luber Gallery, Philadelphia
1987 Carter-Arcand Gallery, Portland
1990 Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio