Lot Essay
Shinoda Toko was born in 1913 and began to learn calligraphy when she was six years old. She studied at school and with her father, who was a noted calligrapher. Her first one-person exhibition was at the Kyukyodo Gallery in Tokyo in 1940. Among her numerous solo exhibitions are those at the Yoseido Gallery in Tokyo and the Swetzoff Gallery in Boston, both in 1956, at the Art Institute of Chicago and the La Hune Gallery in Paris in 1957, at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1959, at the Nitta Gallery in Tokyo in 1961, and at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York in 1965, 1968, 1971, 1975 and 1977.
In the late 1950s Shinoda visited New York. With the help of friends and admirers, her visa was extended and she traveled extensively in the U.S. Her dynamic brushwork bearing traces of traditional kanji, finds equivalents in the work of artists such as Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock, as well as in the rhythmic interpretations of the period's contemporary jazz.
Shinoda's group exhibitions include those in 1958 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Japanese National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller in Holland in 1959, the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, the Academie der Kunst in Berlin, the Sao Paulo Biennial all in 1961, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo in 1962, and the Royal Dublin Society in 1967. In 1979 she was in a group exhibition with Okada Kenzo (b. 1902) and Tsutaka Waichi (b. 1911) entitled Three Pioneers of Abstract Painting in 20th Century Japan. The exhibition was held at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute.
Shinoda's paintings and prints are in many museum and corporate collections among them the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller in Holland, the Stadtisches Museum den Haag of the Netherlands, the Chase Manhattan Bank, the Ford Foundation, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.
In the late 1950s Shinoda visited New York. With the help of friends and admirers, her visa was extended and she traveled extensively in the U.S. Her dynamic brushwork bearing traces of traditional kanji, finds equivalents in the work of artists such as Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock, as well as in the rhythmic interpretations of the period's contemporary jazz.
Shinoda's group exhibitions include those in 1958 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Japanese National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller in Holland in 1959, the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, the Academie der Kunst in Berlin, the Sao Paulo Biennial all in 1961, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo in 1962, and the Royal Dublin Society in 1967. In 1979 she was in a group exhibition with Okada Kenzo (b. 1902) and Tsutaka Waichi (b. 1911) entitled Three Pioneers of Abstract Painting in 20th Century Japan. The exhibition was held at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute.
Shinoda's paintings and prints are in many museum and corporate collections among them the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller in Holland, the Stadtisches Museum den Haag of the Netherlands, the Chase Manhattan Bank, the Ford Foundation, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.