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Lot Essay
A PAINTER'S JOURNEY TO IMPERIAL RECOGNITION
Toko Shinoda's body of work has achieved the ultimate status of refinement and delicacy through the virtuosity of her wrist and her masterful use of ink. At the age of 104 years old, she continues to produce beautiful ink compositions for the world to admire.
Born in 1913 in Dalian, Manchuria, Toko Shinoda moved to Japan with her family when she was still a young child. She learned calligraphy at a very early age, under her father's initiative, who himself had received an artistic teaching from his uncle, a famous seal-cutter, well versed in calligraphy and Chinese poetry. She moved to Tokyo before World War II to study traditional calligraphy and held her first solo exhibition just before the war.
Her brief two-year visit to the USA in the late 1950's was a turning point in her work as she discovered abstract expressionism. She realized she could step outside the boundaries set by the rigidity of traditional calligraphy and create new forms from a wide spectrum of ink lines. Since her return to Japan, Shinoda has accumulated formal recognition through the acquisition of her works for public and prestigious spaces, increasing her national and international visibility.
'My works are all delicate — just one little part keeps it all together'
Autumn (Lot 627) does indeed provide a gentle visual effect so characteristic of her work. As the lines ricochet across the long and thin composition, a sense of fragile and delicate balance emerges from the surface, leaving the viewer in an appeasing contemplation. The variations of the lines and colors bring dimensionality and motion to the surface. However, this quiet balance is interrupted by the airy thin black lines disengaging themselves from the thick black stroke, bringing a sense of pleasing spontaneity and lightness to the composition.
Toko Shinoda's body of work has achieved the ultimate status of refinement and delicacy through the virtuosity of her wrist and her masterful use of ink. At the age of 104 years old, she continues to produce beautiful ink compositions for the world to admire.
Born in 1913 in Dalian, Manchuria, Toko Shinoda moved to Japan with her family when she was still a young child. She learned calligraphy at a very early age, under her father's initiative, who himself had received an artistic teaching from his uncle, a famous seal-cutter, well versed in calligraphy and Chinese poetry. She moved to Tokyo before World War II to study traditional calligraphy and held her first solo exhibition just before the war.
Her brief two-year visit to the USA in the late 1950's was a turning point in her work as she discovered abstract expressionism. She realized she could step outside the boundaries set by the rigidity of traditional calligraphy and create new forms from a wide spectrum of ink lines. Since her return to Japan, Shinoda has accumulated formal recognition through the acquisition of her works for public and prestigious spaces, increasing her national and international visibility.
'My works are all delicate — just one little part keeps it all together'
Autumn (Lot 627) does indeed provide a gentle visual effect so characteristic of her work. As the lines ricochet across the long and thin composition, a sense of fragile and delicate balance emerges from the surface, leaving the viewer in an appeasing contemplation. The variations of the lines and colors bring dimensionality and motion to the surface. However, this quiet balance is interrupted by the airy thin black lines disengaging themselves from the thick black stroke, bringing a sense of pleasing spontaneity and lightness to the composition.