Lot Essay
Saito Yoshishige was born on May 4, 1904 in Tokyo. While a junior high school student he met the artist Nakashino Toshio (1900-1948) and, influenced by his work, began to make oil paintings. An exhibition of Italian Futurist paintings held at this time dazzled the young painter and encouraged him in his artistic pursuits.
In 1930 Saito started to use the materials that have been a key element in his work throughout his career. He created relief by using a build-up of oil pigments and also by applying painted wood directly to the surface of his work. These pictures were not readily accepted by the public as they seemed neither paintings or sculpture. He also joined an avant-garde, western-style painting center in Surugadai, where he studied with Koga Harue (1895-1933) and Togo Seiji (1897-1976).
In 1936 Saito began to exhibit his work frequently and in 1939 he helped establish the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai, a cultural art group with which he was affiliated until 1953. In 1954 he moved to Urayasu in Chiba Prefecture. He won an award for a painting entitled Oni (Demon), at the Fourth International Art Exhibition in 1957. In the same year Work no. 1, shown in an exhibit entitled New Artists of Today, established Saito as a recognized abstract artist. In 1960 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1961 his Work no. 10 (sold in these Rooms Sale #7486, April 22, 1992, lot 143) won the International painting award at the Sao Paulo Biennale. This prize and the inclusion of four of his paintings in the exhibition The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture which traveled throughout the United States between 1965-1967 confirmed his international stature.
Recognized as one of the most significant pioneers of abstract art in Japan, Saito used his tenure as Professor of Fine Art at Tama Art College to influence a generation of artists who have emerged as important figures in contemporary Japanese art. Upon his retirement in 1973 he spent time traveling in Europe and reconstructing earlier works from the latter part of the 1930s and early 1940s destroyed during the war. His work was exhibited in several one-man and two-man exhibitions in Europe. There have been two major retrospectives of his work. The first, entitled Yoshishige Saito, was held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 1978, the second, entitled Yoshishige Saito -- Time, Space, Wood, was held at the Yokohama Museum of Art and Tokushima Modern Art Museum in 1993. Other large exhibitions include Yoshishige Saito at the Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery in 1977, the Saito Yoshishige Exhibition 1984 organized jointly by the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Hyogo, Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art and the Ohara Museum of Art. The following year he was awarded the 1984 Asahi Prize. In 1986 his works were included in the exhibition Japon des Avant-Gardes 1910-1970, held at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and in 1989 he exhibited with works of another abstract painter, Yamaguchi Takeo (1902-1983), at the Musee d'Art Moderne, Brussels as part of Europalia 89.
In 1930 Saito started to use the materials that have been a key element in his work throughout his career. He created relief by using a build-up of oil pigments and also by applying painted wood directly to the surface of his work. These pictures were not readily accepted by the public as they seemed neither paintings or sculpture. He also joined an avant-garde, western-style painting center in Surugadai, where he studied with Koga Harue (1895-1933) and Togo Seiji (1897-1976).
In 1936 Saito began to exhibit his work frequently and in 1939 he helped establish the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai, a cultural art group with which he was affiliated until 1953. In 1954 he moved to Urayasu in Chiba Prefecture. He won an award for a painting entitled Oni (Demon), at the Fourth International Art Exhibition in 1957. In the same year Work no. 1, shown in an exhibit entitled New Artists of Today, established Saito as a recognized abstract artist. In 1960 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1961 his Work no. 10 (sold in these Rooms Sale #7486, April 22, 1992, lot 143) won the International painting award at the Sao Paulo Biennale. This prize and the inclusion of four of his paintings in the exhibition The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture which traveled throughout the United States between 1965-1967 confirmed his international stature.
Recognized as one of the most significant pioneers of abstract art in Japan, Saito used his tenure as Professor of Fine Art at Tama Art College to influence a generation of artists who have emerged as important figures in contemporary Japanese art. Upon his retirement in 1973 he spent time traveling in Europe and reconstructing earlier works from the latter part of the 1930s and early 1940s destroyed during the war. His work was exhibited in several one-man and two-man exhibitions in Europe. There have been two major retrospectives of his work. The first, entitled Yoshishige Saito, was held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 1978, the second, entitled Yoshishige Saito -- Time, Space, Wood, was held at the Yokohama Museum of Art and Tokushima Modern Art Museum in 1993. Other large exhibitions include Yoshishige Saito at the Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery in 1977, the Saito Yoshishige Exhibition 1984 organized jointly by the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Hyogo, Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art and the Ohara Museum of Art. The following year he was awarded the 1984 Asahi Prize. In 1986 his works were included in the exhibition Japon des Avant-Gardes 1910-1970, held at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and in 1989 he exhibited with works of another abstract painter, Yamaguchi Takeo (1902-1983), at the Musee d'Art Moderne, Brussels as part of Europalia 89.