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Lot Essay
Kenzo Okada is among the group of Japanese artists that relocated to New York during the 1950s and 1960s, arriving there himself in 1950. Each artist took their own path, with many striving for pure abstraction, however Okada set a precedent for combining Japanese traditions with American abstract trends. Subtly incorporating elements of Japanese culture such as 17th century screen painting and Zen Buddhism, his work evokes the natural world through thoughtfully composed form and muted palette. A Hut, 1968, typifies his oeuvre; quiet, poetic, even meditative - subtle blocks of muted colour drawn from nature, with a geometric form gently hovering within the suggested landscape.
Okada quickly established himself as an integral member of the American art scene and from 1953 he had eleven solo exhibitions at Betty Parsons Gallery, was a US representative at the 1955 Sao Paulo Biennial, and exhibited at the Japanese Pavilion at the 1958 Venice Biennale. His work is in many museum collections including the Guggenheim, New York (go to: https:/www.guggenheim.org/artwork/3313) and The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (go to: http:/search.artmuseums.go.jp/search_e/records.php?sakuhin=156136). He died on 25th July, 1982, in Tokyo.
Okada quickly established himself as an integral member of the American art scene and from 1953 he had eleven solo exhibitions at Betty Parsons Gallery, was a US representative at the 1955 Sao Paulo Biennial, and exhibited at the Japanese Pavilion at the 1958 Venice Biennale. His work is in many museum collections including the Guggenheim, New York (go to: https:/www.guggenheim.org/artwork/3313) and The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (go to: http:/search.artmuseums.go.jp/search_e/records.php?sakuhin=156136). He died on 25th July, 1982, in Tokyo.