# Shiko Munakata artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/shiko-munakata/
Profile generated: 2026-08-19T09:54:59.865Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1903-09-05
- Death date: 1975-09-13
- Nationality: Japanese
- Movements: sōsaku-hanga, mingei
- Common media: woodblock prints, painting, illustration

## Portrait

![Shiko Munakata](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Shik%C5%8D_Munakata.jpg)
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shik%C5%8D_Munakata.jpg

## About Shiko Munakata

Shikō Munakata (1903–1975) was a Japanese artist associated with the modern woodblock-print tradition. Born in Aomori and later active in Tokyo, he worked as a printmaker, painter, engraver, and illustrator. His practice is commonly connected with sōsaku-hanga, the creative-print movement, and with mingei, the Japanese folk-craft context. Munakata became internationally recognized through exhibitions and print awards during the 1950s, and he received Japan’s Order of Culture in 1970. Collectors and researchers encounter his work through boldly carved woodblocks, works on paper, paintings, and illustrated material. His identity may appear under the forms Shikō Munakata, Munakata Shikō, or the Japanese name 棟方志功, so consistent authority matching is useful when researching records and catalogues.

## Common works and media

Auction and appraisal records for Munakata may include woodblock prints and other works on paper, as well as paintings, illustrations, editions, and objects classified in broader fine-art, decorative-art, sculpture, or mixed-media categories. For prints, edition details, impressions, inscriptions, paper, dimensions, condition, and provenance can help distinguish one record from another. Paintings and illustrated works should be assessed by medium, date, size, subject, surface condition, and attribution evidence. Because cataloguing categories vary between auction houses, collectors should compare the actual object and its documentation rather than relying only on a broad category label.

## Market and appraisal context

Munakata’s public market record is encountered most often through works on paper and prints, while auction listings may also classify related material under fine art, editions, decorative art, sculpture, or mixed media. Appraisal depends on the specific object rather than the artist name alone: medium, dimensions, date, condition, restoration, surface quality, signature or inscription, edition information, provenance, exhibition history, catalogue references, attribution confidence, subject, and comparable recent sales can all matter. Public auction results provide useful comparison points, but they may not represent private transactions or complete market coverage. Authentication, condition review, and like-for-like comparison remain important before drawing conclusions from a recorded sale.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available.

## Sources

- Bibliothèque nationale de France: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb11962649k
- IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/027626202
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/27073496/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/4162
- National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.5056.html
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500105681
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1251247
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shik%C5%8D_Munakata
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/shiko-munakata/