Akira Kito, 1963 French Japanese Art Brut Abstract Oil Painting Akira Kito Diable et Rouge, 1963

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Akira Kito, Japanese, 1925-1994 Diable et Roge Oil on Canvas Titled, signed, and dated 1963 verso Hand signed lower center … Read more Akira Kito, Japanese, 1925-1994 Diable et Roge Oil on Canvas Titled, signed, and dated 1963 verso Hand signed lower center Dimensions: 32 x 12 3/4 in. (81.3 x 32.4 cm.), Frame: 33 1/2 x 14 x 1 in. Kito was born to a family of artists and began painting at 16 years old. In 1943, he entered the National School of Fine Arts in Tokyo, specializing in Western Art, against the wishes of his father, who was himself a traditional Japanese landscape painter. His grandfather was also an artist based in the traditional ways of Japanese artistry, acknowledged by the Imperial court of Japan. In 1953, Kito moved to Paris, France where he studied at the L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the “Jean Souverbie class,” practicing Cubism until 1957. During his time in Paris, he engaged in many cultural activities, frequenting the avant garde studios in the neighborhoods of both Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. His work includes various elements that resemble human faces, but is characterized by his own kind of magic. He was influenced by the naive, bold style of Cobra artists including Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky. Throughout his career, Kito’s work has gone through a series of periods beginning with Cubism and is an artist known for perpetual change in color and form, constantly seeking and burning with an inner fire. From 1954 onward, he regularly participated in group exhibitions at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture, Salon de Crest, Salon Comparaisons, and Salon d'Automne, as well as at the Musée Galleria, Musée d'Évreux, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Osaka, Japan. In 1955, he held his first solo exhibition at Galerie Lara Vincy—a historic collaboration that would continue annually until 1962. During the years 1958-1960, Akira Kitô managed a subtle and powerful synthesis between heterogeneous vocabularies thanks to a masterful and consummate technique. Whether he painted a Masque, a Japonaise or a Dragon, he worked in a simple composition on deep backgrounds, scratched and worked over. Imaginary archetypes, like those we find at the same period in works by Joan Miro or Karel Appel. The atmosphere is mysterious and magical. One should recall on that subject, that the painter’s family name, Kitô, in Japanese means "devil’s head". The titles speak for themselves: Amulette, Rêve noir, Femme mythologique. With, occasionally, an Origami note. He later exhibited in Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, and, from 1969, regularly in Japan. In 1970, he returned to Japan to continue his work until his death in 1994. Kito's artistic sensibility was deeply influenced by the masters of primitive art. His work bears some influence of Art Brut, Paul Klee and Jean Dubuffet as well as Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser a friend he collaborated with. He was a frequent visitor to the Musée de l'Homme and admired the cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira in Spain. His works are featured in numerous museums, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Vienna Museum in Austria, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in the United States. See less