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Lot Essay
Imai Toshimitsu achieved high acclaim as an artist who strove to break new boundaries as a painter. He was born in Kyoto in 1928 and went to school in Tokyo. He was awarded prizes as an artist from the early 1950s, exhibiting in the 15th Salon of Shinseisaku, winning a prize for best young artist. In search of the new, in 1952 he left for Paris where he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, followed by Paris University. Almost immediately he became part of the dynamic international art scene in Paris, holding his first one-man exhibition in Paris at Galerie 25 in 1953 and in 1955 met Michel Tapié, who during the 1950s was the advisor to Rodolphe Stadler, owner of the leading avant-garde gallery which promoted Art Informel. From this point on Imai turned increasingly towards abstraction and along with his contemporary and fellow-Paris resident Hisao Domoto became contract artists of Galerie Stadler, and would both become recognized as Art Informel artists.
After three decades of painting abstractly and immersed in the western art scene, beginning in 1835 Imai referenced back to his Japanese root and started a matured series Kacho fugetsu (Flower, bird, wind and moon; Beauty of Nature) and Hika rakuyo (Flying blossoms, falling leaves) featuring classical Japanese motifs, such as autumn grasses, cherry blossoms and full moon. Growing up in a traditional Japanese house and surrounded by his father's collection of important Japanese art by masters like Ikkyu Sojun, Maruyama Okyo and Ito Jakuchu, Imai was deeply rooted with the japanese aesthetics and philosophy. He mentioned specifically that he slept in a room decorated with a gold Rinpa screen of the Korin School (Takeyoshi Miyazawa ed., Imai: Ka-cho-fu-getsu, Tokyo, 1987, pp. 60). The current lot was likely inspired by an important Rinpa screen Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn by Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828), now in the collection of Tokyo National Museum (A-11189-2).
Imai was awarded the title Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 1983, and his works were exhibited at the Venice Biennale (1960) and Sao Paulo Biennale (1953). Notable public collection including the Centre Pompidou, The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo and Pola Museum.
After three decades of painting abstractly and immersed in the western art scene, beginning in 1835 Imai referenced back to his Japanese root and started a matured series Kacho fugetsu (Flower, bird, wind and moon; Beauty of Nature) and Hika rakuyo (Flying blossoms, falling leaves) featuring classical Japanese motifs, such as autumn grasses, cherry blossoms and full moon. Growing up in a traditional Japanese house and surrounded by his father's collection of important Japanese art by masters like Ikkyu Sojun, Maruyama Okyo and Ito Jakuchu, Imai was deeply rooted with the japanese aesthetics and philosophy. He mentioned specifically that he slept in a room decorated with a gold Rinpa screen of the Korin School (Takeyoshi Miyazawa ed., Imai: Ka-cho-fu-getsu, Tokyo, 1987, pp. 60). The current lot was likely inspired by an important Rinpa screen Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn by Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828), now in the collection of Tokyo National Museum (A-11189-2).
Imai was awarded the title Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 1983, and his works were exhibited at the Venice Biennale (1960) and Sao Paulo Biennale (1953). Notable public collection including the Centre Pompidou, The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo and Pola Museum.