Brush Painting by Kumi Sugai

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Description

Sugai Brush Painting from a Palm Beach private collection

After moving to Paris in 1952, Sugaï became acquainted with the … Read more Sugai Brush Painting from a Palm Beach private collection

After moving to Paris in 1952, Sugaï became acquainted with the legacy of Surrealism and Abstract Impressionism, and began adapting traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock forms and techniques with a unique painterly sensibility., the kanji characters were masterfully reconfigured into a nonsensical character of Sugaï's own formal invention: by emptying the signifier of its linguistic meaning, Sugaï orchestrates an entirely innovative encounter between Western figurative abstraction and Asian calligraphy.

Employing a subtle, quietly radiant palette, Sugaï's virtuosic use of color imbues warmth and humanity into his paintings.

Frame size 28 1/4 w x 23 1/8 h x 1 deep
image size 19 1/2 x 14 1/2 high

About the artist:
Sugai was born on March 13, 1919 in Kobe, Japan.. His parents were Malaysian immigrants

Sugai was educated at the Osaka University of Arts in Osaka, Japan in the 1930s. He attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in the 1950s..

Career
Sugai began his career in advertising for the Japanese railway company Hankyu, where he worked from 1937 to 1945.

Sugai became a professional painter in Paris in 1952, and he first exhibited his work at the Salon d'Automne in 1953, followed by the Galerie Craven in Paris in 1954 He began exhibiting internationally that year, first at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, followed by St George's Gallery in London in 1955. He later exhibited his work at the Venice Biennale in Italy, the documenta in Germany, the Carnegie International in the US, Expo 67 in Canada, the São Paulo Art Biennial in Brazil, the Ohara Museum of Art in Japan, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City..

Sugai illustrated two poetry collections authored by Jean-Clarence Lambert. His work was added to the permanent collections of the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art. He designed a mural for the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. See less