'Abstract in Turquoise and Copper' by Hiroyuki Tajima, 1979, Sosaku-Hanga, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Tokyo, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Description

Signed lower right outside of block, 'Hiroyuki Tajima' (Japanese, 1911-1984) and dated 1979 with limitation and number, '100-10', lower center … more Signed lower right outside of block, 'Hiroyuki Tajima' (Japanese, 1911-1984) and dated 1979 with limitation and number, '100-10', lower center and titled lower left, 'Section of Landscape'.
Paper dimensions: 19.75 x 12.5 inches

An elegant abstract comprising juxtaposed vertical, rectangular forms in variegated shades of turquoise blue and copper.

Engraver and printmaker, Hiroyuki Tajima was born in Tokyo in 1911 and graduated from Nihon University in 1932. In 1934, he graduated from the Tokyo School of Arts with a specialization in western-style painting. Tajima later studied fabric dyeing under Hirokawa Matsugoro (1889-1952) and woodblock printing with the Sosaku-Hanga artist, Nagase Yoshiro (1891-1978), a founder of the Japan Print Association (Hanga Kyokai). In 1946, inspired by Dada and Surrealism, Tajima joined Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai, a group dedicated to exploring and reviving the abstract and surrealist painting ideals that had been suppressed during WWII.

Tajima exhibited widely and with success, including with Tokyo's Modern Art Association ( Prix du Nouveau Venu, 1962), the Japanese Engraving Association, the Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition in Tokyo (1962), the Northwest International Print Exhibition (1962-1964) and the Tokyo International Print Biennale (1964). His work is held in the permanent collections of museums worldwide including the Portland Art Museum (Oregon), the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (British Columbia), the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), the Carnegie Museum of Art, the National Museum of Art, Osaka (NMAO) and the British Museum in London.

In describing Tajima's work, Frances Blakemore comments: "Every Tajima work seems to glow from behind, as though it incorporated a fluorescent light shielded by a mysteriously textured fabric. ... Tajima's technique consists of brushing intensely colored dyes over a dark-colored medium, imparting luminosity to the white areas while enriching the basic colors of the print. The textured areas fade off into dark planes, seeming to float on a cool liquid. Thus the fascinating, bubbly shapes are set off by simple, relaxing ground forms. In this end, this rare combination of intricacy and confident simplicity makes Tajima's work both exciting and reassuring" (p. 192).

With thanks to the Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints

Reference:
E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 13, p. 435; Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 141; Modern Japanese Prints: 1912-1989, Lawrence Smith, British Museum Press, 1994, p. 35; Who's Who in Modern Japanese Prints, Frances Blakemore, Weatherhill, 1975, p. 192; 44 Modern Japanese Print Artists, Gaston Petit, Kodansha International Ltd., 1973, p. 135; Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints; et al. less