Lot Essay
Tsutaka was born in Nishinomiya City in Hyogo Prefecture. He studied at the Nakanoshima Western Art Center in Osaka from 1942-44 and he traveled extensively in Central and South America, the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Switzerland, and England, from 1959-63.
Among numerous one-man exhibitions of his work are those at the Fujikawa Gallery in Osaka in 1950, the Umeda Gallery in Osaka in 1954 and 1955, the Minami Gallery in Tokyo in 1959 and 1960, the Saigado Gallery in Hamamatsu City in 1965, and the Galeria Documenta in Sao Paulo in 1970 and 1971.
Well-represented in group shows, Tsutaka was in Six Contemporary Japanese Artists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 1956, the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1957 and 1959, the Guggenheim International Award Exhibition in New York in 1960, Japanische Malerei der Gengenwart at the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin in 1961, in 1962-63, 1973, 1981 and 1982 at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, and in 1975 at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art in Kobe. In 1970 he was in a three-person exhibition along with Okada Kenzo (b. 1902), and Shinoda Toko (b. 1913) see lots 7 and 34, in Three Pioneers of Abstract Painting in 20th Century Japan that traveled to the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. In 1983 his work was in the Osaka Contemporary Art Fair.
Tsutaka has received many mural commissions throughout his career that include the Nishinomiya Health Center in Hyogo Prefecture in 1955, the Kansai Theater in Kobe in 1956, the Kobe Branch Building and the Kansai Electrical Power Company both in 1964. He designed a wall relief at the Shiobara Institute High School in Kobe in 1965.
His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe, the Fukui Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum in Osaka, the Fukuoka City Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in Hyogo.
In 1962 Tsutaka wrote, "In my work, I use only a brush. With it I am able to express my intensity and weight of feeling. I never sketch on the canvas. I face the white canvas and let my brush take me into it. It becomes almost impossible to paint if I have any preconceptions. When one is next to complete exhaustion in spirit and body, he can start to paint, because he is almost incapable of thinking of anything but holding himself together. This is, to me, the state of nothingness; in this state the painter will truly create something."
Among numerous one-man exhibitions of his work are those at the Fujikawa Gallery in Osaka in 1950, the Umeda Gallery in Osaka in 1954 and 1955, the Minami Gallery in Tokyo in 1959 and 1960, the Saigado Gallery in Hamamatsu City in 1965, and the Galeria Documenta in Sao Paulo in 1970 and 1971.
Well-represented in group shows, Tsutaka was in Six Contemporary Japanese Artists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 1956, the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1957 and 1959, the Guggenheim International Award Exhibition in New York in 1960, Japanische Malerei der Gengenwart at the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin in 1961, in 1962-63, 1973, 1981 and 1982 at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, and in 1975 at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art in Kobe. In 1970 he was in a three-person exhibition along with Okada Kenzo (b. 1902), and Shinoda Toko (b. 1913) see lots 7 and 34, in Three Pioneers of Abstract Painting in 20th Century Japan that traveled to the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. In 1983 his work was in the Osaka Contemporary Art Fair.
Tsutaka has received many mural commissions throughout his career that include the Nishinomiya Health Center in Hyogo Prefecture in 1955, the Kansai Theater in Kobe in 1956, the Kobe Branch Building and the Kansai Electrical Power Company both in 1964. He designed a wall relief at the Shiobara Institute High School in Kobe in 1965.
His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe, the Fukui Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum in Osaka, the Fukuoka City Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in Hyogo.
In 1962 Tsutaka wrote, "In my work, I use only a brush. With it I am able to express my intensity and weight of feeling. I never sketch on the canvas. I face the white canvas and let my brush take me into it. It becomes almost impossible to paint if I have any preconceptions. When one is next to complete exhaustion in spirit and body, he can start to paint, because he is almost incapable of thinking of anything but holding himself together. This is, to me, the state of nothingness; in this state the painter will truly create something."