Lot Essay
Born in Nagasaki Prefecture, in his adolescence Nagare Masayuki studied under the auspices of a Zen temple in Kyoto, an experience that has influenced the tenor of his artistic career. His father, the founder and president of Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University wanted his son to have the education of a samurai, to study until the age of thirty, and to learn to work with his hands. In 1941 Nagare entered Ritsumeikan University, took courses in the traditional arts and crafts of Japan, and apprenticed himself to a master swordsmith. He further studied Buddhist and Shinto beliefs and investigated the function of ritualized sport in society. Nagare served as a fighter pilot in the Naval Air Force from 1943-45 when, disillusioned by his war experience, he spent a number of ensuing years traveling throughout Japan, living with farmers and industrial workers. These years, devoted to private study and contemplation, were fruitful in the development of his personal philosophy and the formation of his artistic language.
Nagare had his first Tokyo exhibition in 1955 at the Mimatsu Gallery, an exhibition dedicated to the memory of Japanese and American pilots killed in the war, and in the decade that followed he became well-known for his sculpture and garden designs. In 1956 he traveled to western Japan and created his first stone sculpture, a series of Jizo figures, the Buddhist protector of children (see lot 29). In 1958 Lincoln Kirstein of the New York City Ballet was impressed with Nagare's Yoseido Gallery exhibition in Tokyo and returned to America to praise his work to Aline Saarinen, art critic of The New York Times. Mrs. Saarinen bought a Nagare piece and suggested that Mrs. Rockefeller visit the artist upon her next visit to Japan, which she did accompanied by the architect Philip Johnson. Mrs. Rockefeller purchased five of Nagare's works during this 1959 visit, and others followed suit, among them architects Marcel Breuer and Philip Johnson, and collectors William Paley and Joseph Hirshhorn. Mrs. Rockefeller invited Nagare to come to the United States in 1962, where he lived half of each year until returning to Japan in 1975.
Nagare has created many commissioned works for public spaces, including the Ueno Festival Hall in 1962 and the Palace Hotel in 1964 in Japan. In 1963 he won the Japan Architectural Award for a sculptural wall designed for the Oita Prefectural Office Building. In 1964 a commission entitled Stone crazy was completed for the walls of the Japanese Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. This piece was sculpted from 600 tons of stone by Japanese craftsmen brought by Nagare to New York.
The Staempfli Gallery in New York represented Nagare from 1963-79. Early group exhibitions in America were the Carnegie International Exhibitions in Pittsburgh in 1961 and 1964, and Contemporary Japanese Painting and Sculpture sponsored by the American Federation of Arts 1963-64. In 1965 Nagare was commissioned to create a sculptural group for the Northwestern National Life Insurance Building in Minneapolis and in 1966 for the government building of Kagawa Prefecture in Takamatsu City on the island of Shikoku. In 1967 he had a one-person exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art, that traveled to the Arts Club of Chicago and to the Staempfli Gallery in 1968.
Nagare was commissioned by the Port Authority of New York City in 1970 to create the largest free-standing stone (black granite) sculpture of its time, Cloud fortress, to stand between the towers of the World Trade Center. Two more pieces in New York City, entitled Bachi, grace the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, and additional commissioned works include those for the Bank of America Building in San Francisco, the Juilliard School of Music in New York (commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation), in Japan for the Sanwa Building, the Asahi Newspaper, and IBM among numerous others.
In 1974 Nagare received the Japan Grand Prix of Arts. He had a one-man exhibition at the Seibu Museum in Tokyo in 1977, at the Umeda Modern Art Museum in Osaka in 1978 and, in 1981, 1985, and 1990 at the Edobori Gallery in Osaka. Recent commissions include a 1986 sculpture for the Hiroshima City Hall, a 1987 work installed at the foot of the Seto Ohashi Bridge, the 1991 Memorial Park in Kagawa Prefecture, and in 1992 for Miyakonojo City in Kyushu.
Nagare's work is in many collections including the San Diego Museum of Art (Sabi Jizo 1960), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Mind to mind 1965), the Museum of Modern Art in New York (Receiving, 1960, purchased by Mrs. Rockefeller), the Honolulu Academy of Art (Sakimori 1989), the Takamatsu City Museum of Art (Nagare bachi 1988), the Ohara Museum of Art (Darker side of love 1990), and the National Museum of Art, Osaka (Wind castle 1978).
The natural appearance and texture of stone is vital to Nagare's dynamic sculpture. The piece offered here is noteworthy for its juxtaposition of rough, chiseled surfaces and polished, smooth granite, a contrast that strikes a harmony of opposing forces. Nagare has studios in Aji-cho, Kagawa, and on the island of Shikoku, known for its stone quarries.
Nagare had his first Tokyo exhibition in 1955 at the Mimatsu Gallery, an exhibition dedicated to the memory of Japanese and American pilots killed in the war, and in the decade that followed he became well-known for his sculpture and garden designs. In 1956 he traveled to western Japan and created his first stone sculpture, a series of Jizo figures, the Buddhist protector of children (see lot 29). In 1958 Lincoln Kirstein of the New York City Ballet was impressed with Nagare's Yoseido Gallery exhibition in Tokyo and returned to America to praise his work to Aline Saarinen, art critic of The New York Times. Mrs. Saarinen bought a Nagare piece and suggested that Mrs. Rockefeller visit the artist upon her next visit to Japan, which she did accompanied by the architect Philip Johnson. Mrs. Rockefeller purchased five of Nagare's works during this 1959 visit, and others followed suit, among them architects Marcel Breuer and Philip Johnson, and collectors William Paley and Joseph Hirshhorn. Mrs. Rockefeller invited Nagare to come to the United States in 1962, where he lived half of each year until returning to Japan in 1975.
Nagare has created many commissioned works for public spaces, including the Ueno Festival Hall in 1962 and the Palace Hotel in 1964 in Japan. In 1963 he won the Japan Architectural Award for a sculptural wall designed for the Oita Prefectural Office Building. In 1964 a commission entitled Stone crazy was completed for the walls of the Japanese Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. This piece was sculpted from 600 tons of stone by Japanese craftsmen brought by Nagare to New York.
The Staempfli Gallery in New York represented Nagare from 1963-79. Early group exhibitions in America were the Carnegie International Exhibitions in Pittsburgh in 1961 and 1964, and Contemporary Japanese Painting and Sculpture sponsored by the American Federation of Arts 1963-64. In 1965 Nagare was commissioned to create a sculptural group for the Northwestern National Life Insurance Building in Minneapolis and in 1966 for the government building of Kagawa Prefecture in Takamatsu City on the island of Shikoku. In 1967 he had a one-person exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art, that traveled to the Arts Club of Chicago and to the Staempfli Gallery in 1968.
Nagare was commissioned by the Port Authority of New York City in 1970 to create the largest free-standing stone (black granite) sculpture of its time, Cloud fortress, to stand between the towers of the World Trade Center. Two more pieces in New York City, entitled Bachi, grace the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, and additional commissioned works include those for the Bank of America Building in San Francisco, the Juilliard School of Music in New York (commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation), in Japan for the Sanwa Building, the Asahi Newspaper, and IBM among numerous others.
In 1974 Nagare received the Japan Grand Prix of Arts. He had a one-man exhibition at the Seibu Museum in Tokyo in 1977, at the Umeda Modern Art Museum in Osaka in 1978 and, in 1981, 1985, and 1990 at the Edobori Gallery in Osaka. Recent commissions include a 1986 sculpture for the Hiroshima City Hall, a 1987 work installed at the foot of the Seto Ohashi Bridge, the 1991 Memorial Park in Kagawa Prefecture, and in 1992 for Miyakonojo City in Kyushu.
Nagare's work is in many collections including the San Diego Museum of Art (Sabi Jizo 1960), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Mind to mind 1965), the Museum of Modern Art in New York (Receiving, 1960, purchased by Mrs. Rockefeller), the Honolulu Academy of Art (Sakimori 1989), the Takamatsu City Museum of Art (Nagare bachi 1988), the Ohara Museum of Art (Darker side of love 1990), and the National Museum of Art, Osaka (Wind castle 1978).
The natural appearance and texture of stone is vital to Nagare's dynamic sculpture. The piece offered here is noteworthy for its juxtaposition of rough, chiseled surfaces and polished, smooth granite, a contrast that strikes a harmony of opposing forces. Nagare has studios in Aji-cho, Kagawa, and on the island of Shikoku, known for its stone quarries.