Skip to main content

Kikuo Saito Art

Japanese, 1939-2016
With ties to the Color Field tradition, Saito’s color landscapes are a richly infused exhibition of dragged and poured paint, often with bold flecks of color, animated calligraphic line, and stenciled lettering. Influenced by his work in theatre, many of his compositions are directly related to the movements and lights found on stage, as is the case with Crocodile Boogie. Japanese born and trained Kikuo Saito (1939–2016) moved to New York in 1966 where he worked as a carpenter while acting as studio assistant to Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, and Larry Poons. Saito had long association with La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York creating costumes, set design, and directing. His productions drew inspiration from traditional and avant-garde Japanese theatre. Saito's paintings and are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Aldrich Contemporary Museums, and numerous private and corporate collections. KinoSaito, a non-profit museum and art space in Verplanck, New York, opened in 2020, in honor of Saito's interdisciplinary practice and spirit.
(Biography provided by Taylor Graham)
to
2
6
1
4
4
2
6
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
5
6
3
2
6
6,997
3,373
2,513
1,212
4
2
2
2
1
Artist: Kikuo Saito
Spanish Ghost
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Austin, TX
Acrylic on canvas. Signed, dated, and titled verso. 52.25 x 52.75 in. 54 x 54.25 in. (framed) Custom framed in a maple hardwood floater. Provenance Salander O’Reilly Galleries, New York Private Collection, Connecticut Provenance Estate of Samuel Feinstein...
Category

1980s Color-Field Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Onion Train, Large Abstract Silkscreen by Kikuo Saito
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Kikuo Saito, Japanese (1939 - 2016) Title: Onion Train Year: 1979 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 225 Size: 42 x 29.5 inches [106.68 x 74.93 cm]
Category

1970s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Paper Lake, Large Abstract Silkscreen by Kikuo Saito
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Kikuo Saito, Japanese (1939 - 2016) Title: Paper Lake Year: 1979 Medium: Silkscreen with Collage, Signed in Pencil l.r. Edition: 160 Size: 42 x 29.5 inches (124.46 x 74.93 cm)
Category

1970s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Pink Square, Large Abstract Silkscreen by Kikuo Saito
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Kikuo Saito, Japanese (1939 - 2016) Title: Pink Square Year: 1979 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 225 Size: 42 x 29.5 inches [106.68 x 74.93 cm]
Category

1970s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Beggar's Ladder, Large Abstract Silkscreen by Kikuo Saito
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Kikuo Saito, Japanese (1939 - 2016) Title: Beggar's Ladder Year: 1980 Medium: Silkscreen, Signed and Numbered in Pencil Edition: 160 Size: 42 in. x 29.5 in. (106.68 cm x 74.9...
Category

1980s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Crimson
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Kikuo Saito was a color field painter, set designer, and theater director, who began his career as a studio assistant for some of the most preeminent painters of the 1970s and ‘80s, including Larry Poons, Kenneth Noland, and Helen Frankenthaler. Saito’s works are bright and calligraphic, often covered in gestural strokes of color, drips of paint, and stenciled capital letters. Before turning to painting, Saito was a resident at New York’s La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, and collaborated on set design with directors and choreographers like Robert Wilson, Peter Brook...
Category

20th Century Abstract Expressionist Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Related Items
Frankenthaler, Solar Imp 2001, Lincoln Center New York City Ballet
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: After Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) Title: Solar Imp (Lincoln Center Salute’s the New York City Ballet) Year: 2001 Medium: Silkscreen poster on extra thick Somerset paper E...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

"Nineteen" Thomas Downing, Purple Washington Color School Design, Shaped Canvas
By Thomas Downing
Located in New York, NY
Thomas Victor Downing (1928 - 1985) Nineteen, 1968 Acrylic on canvas 35 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches Signed on the reverse Provenance: Estate of the artist Henri Gallery, Washington, D.C. Private Collection, Washington, D.C. Thomas Downing was born in Suffolk, Virginia. In 1950, after graduating from Pratt Institute in New York City, he received a grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art to study in Europe. Upon returning from Europe, he settled in Washington, DC to teach at Catholic University. In 1954 Downing became a friend of Kenneth Noland, whose life drawing course he attended. From 1955 to 1956 Downing shared a studio with Howard Mehring, another artist who came to be identified with the Washington Color School. Downing had his first one-man show at the Washington Workshop Center for the Arts in 1959. That year, Downing, Mehring, and Betty Pajac founded Origio, a cooperative art gallery in Washington. In 1959 Downing first began using the small dot in his work, a motif he explored fully into the 1970s. In the early works colorful dots determined the structure of the painting in their size, position, and repetition within a grid. Often there was a sense of concentration and expansion of the composition from the center to the edge of the canvas, achieving a visual impression of expanding open space. Looking for the fusion between the grid and color, Downing eliminated overlapping dots in 1962. The dots arranged in grids seem to project from the canvas surface, giving the impression the color floats unrestricted by the square format of his paintings. Downing’s position in the Washington Color School came from his consistent approach to color. The canvas was the receptacle of color, on which Downing often worked in tonal modulations of a hue. Downing developed shaped canvases in 1966 as a structural solution to his deeper consideration of the “spatial definition” of color. After first working in a parallelogram shape, Downing next worked in chevron-shaped canvases that examined the illusionistic qualities of color. He exhibited these works in a solo exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in 1966-1967 and later at the Allan Stone Gallery in New York in 1967. Downing’s second series of shaped canvases titled Folds were created in 1968. In the Fold series he discovered a new effect of relief and spatial depth within a flat work that could be enhanced by color. The projections and folding in the Fold paintings suggest the paintings exist in a world without gravity. Downing exhibited in a group show at Jefferson Place Gallery in 1960 and had his first solo exhibition there in the spring of 1961. Downing had solo exhibitions in New York at Allan Stone Gallery in 1962, 1967, and 1968. He also had solo exhibition in New York at Stable Gallery in September 1963 and January 1965. In the early 1970s Downing had regular solo exhibitions at the Pyramid Galleries in DC. In the 1960s Downing was included in important museum exhibitions, including: Post Painterly Abstraction at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1964 (Clement Greenberg curated and included three of Downing’s dial paintings); The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art, 1965; Colorists, 1950-1965 at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1965; Systemic Painting at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1966; and Color Field Painting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1970. Thomas Downing: Recent Paintings was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in December 1966 - January 1967. A solo exhibition of his paintings from 1962 to 1968 was held at the La Jolla Museum of Art then travelled to the Phoenix Art Museum in 1968. Downing had a solo exhibition at the Phillips Collection in 1985. Downing taught at the Corcoran School of Art and Design, Washington, DC from 1965 to 1968. There he was influential for the next generation of DC color...
Category

1960s Color-Field Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Unique Abstract Multi Layer Primary Colors Screen Print, 1/1
By Michael William Eggleston
Located in Soquel, CA
Brightly colored one-of-a-kind multi-layer abstract composition in primary colors, one of one created by Michael William Eggleston (American, 20th Century). Initialed "MWE" on the bo...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Screen

Anni Albers, ST - Original Screen Print from 1971, Geometric Abstraction
By Anni Albers
Located in Hamburg, DE
Anni Albers (1899-1994) ST, 1971 Medium: Screenprint on cardboard Dimensions: 83 × 62 cm (32 7/10 × 24 2/5 in) Edition: Not signed, not numbered outside the edition of 150. Condition...
Category

20th Century Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Grecian Garden - Figurative Abstract
By Shawna Leach
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful figural abstract with Ionic columns and plants by Shawna Leach (American, b.1962). Signed lower right. Displayed in a giltwood frame. Image, 23"H x 23"L. Shawna Leach was...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Redness of Red" Lithograph Screenprint Collage Contemporary Abstract Abex 1/100
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
"Redness of Red" Lithograph Screenprint Collage Contemporary Abstract Abex 1/100 Redness of Red by Robert Burns Motherwell (1915-1991) Lithograph Scree...
Category

1980s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph, Screen

Reeds, Dale Chihuly
By Dale Chihuly
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Dale Chihuly (1941) Title: Reeds Year: 2016 Medium: Mixed Media (Silkscreen & Lithograph) on Waterford paper Edition: 86/100, plus proofs Size: 37 x 25 inches Condition: Exce...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen, Lithograph

Malinke
By Dan Christensen
Located in Lawrence, NY
Among America’s leading abstract artists, Dan Christensen (1942-2007) was devoted over the course of forty years to exploring the limits, range, and possibilities of paint and pictor...
Category

1970s Color-Field Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Open Window", Large Scale Minimalist Color-Field Abstract
By Sasha Rogers
Located in Soquel, CA
Large scale, compelling abstract titled "Open Window" by Canadian abstract painter Sasha Rogers (Canadian, b. 1969), daughter of premier art...
Category

1980s Color-Field Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Four Sides of the Tower - Blue
By Sol LeWitt
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) is an important contributor to the 20th century's most cerebral "isms" notably minimalism and conceptual art. Many of his works were created from elaborate a...
Category

1980s Abstract Geometric Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Painting with Found Object Collage
By Michael Pauker
Located in Soquel, CA
Lively abstract expressionist oil painting/collage of what resembles a corridor as the focal point, with imported cigar cut outs and pops of vibrant color by...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil

Diversions 1970 Signed Limited Edition Screen Print
By Ian Tyson
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Ian Tyson Diversions  - 1970 Screen Print 16'' x 15'' inches Edition: signed in pencil and marked 27/150 Ian Tyson, British painter, printmaker and book artist, was born in Wallasey...
Category

1970s Abstract Geometric Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Screen

Previously Available Items
Spanish Gray
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Spanish Gray, 2010 oil on board 10.50h x 8.50w in
Category

2010s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Oil

"Orange Tent" Kikuo Saito, Color Field Abstract Expressionism, Japanese-American
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Orange Tent, 1987 Signed, titled and dated on the reverse Acrylic on canvas 49 x 52 inches Provenance: Southam Family, Montreal (acquired directly from the artist in the late 1980s) Private Collection, by descent Oeno Gallery, Ontario, Canada Kikuo Saito (1939 – 2016) was a Japanese-born American abstract painter with ties to the Color Field movement and Lyrical abstraction. A former assistant to Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, and Larry Poons, Saito's work infuses richly saturated colorscapes with delicately drawn lines. Saito was the creator of sui generis theatre and dance events, collaborating with innovative directors and choreographers Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, Jerome Robbins, and dancer and choreographer Eva Maier, to whom he was married for several decades. His productions combined wordless drama in the poetic frameworks of light, costumes, music, and dance, most of which he devised and directed himself. Kikuo Saito was born in Tokyo in 1939. He began painting when he was 17 years old, and worked for 3 years as a proctor and studio technician at the workshop of Sensei Itoh, an established Japanese painter. During this time, Saito gained an understanding of both the traditional arts of Japan as well as contemporary movements such as the Gutai Group. He also had an interest in the burgeoning New York City art world and movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Color Field, and Pop Art. Saito moved to New York in 1966 at the age of 27. The journey across the United States to New York provided him a chance meeting with Ellen Stewart, founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, whom he would later describe as his American mother. Once in New York, Saito worked with Stewart at La MaMa and was instrumental in bringing Japanese avant-garde dramatist Shuji Terayama to La MaMa in 1980. In his early years in New York, Saito balanced painting with theatre, supporting himself with carpentry and working on loft build-outs in Soho. The composition of many of Saito's paintings was significantly influenced by and in dialogue with the geography of his theatre productions. Saito's dualistic nature took material form in the interplay between the collaborative theatre and the private realm of the painting studio. Art critic Karen Wilkin wrote that "if we are attentive, we discover that characters from his stage pieces have been reincarnated as abstract configurations within his paintings, reborn as the records of animated gestures that retain the individuality of their sources." A commonality in the entire body of Saito's work, both on stage or on canvas, focuses on written signs...
Category

1980s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Wind Mil
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Wind Mill, 2009 Acrylic On Canvas 47.25h x 61w in
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Acrylic

Wind Mil
Wind Mil
H 47.25 in W 61 in
Blue Ivory
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Blue Ivory, 2015 Acrylic on canvas 51.75h x 46.25w in
Category

2010s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Acrylic

Blue Ivory
Blue Ivory
H 51.75 in W 46.25 in
Crocodile Boogie, abstract contemporary Asian work
By Kikuo Saito
Located in Greenwich, CT
A dramatic abstract by a rising artist. The Asian an Post War influences make this a sophisticated and sexy work for any interior. It has deep rich color but is not dark and it bri...
Category

1980s Contemporary Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Oil

Cohan's Stay
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Cohan's Stay, 1979 oil on canvas 75.25h x 77.50w in
Category

1970s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Oil

Cohan's Stay
Cohan's Stay
H 75.25 in W 77.5 in
Sugar Moon
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Sugar Moon, 2011 Oil On Canvas 53.75h x 71.38w in
Category

2010s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Acrylic

Sugar Moon
H 54 in W 72 in
Blue Talia
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Blue Talia, 2009 Acrylic on canvas 98h x 51.50w in
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Acrylic

Sea Caravan
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Sea Caravan, 2012 Oil On Canvas 82h x 54.50w in
Category

2010s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Oil

Blue Fisherman
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Blue Fisherman, 2007 Oil On Canvas 30.80h x 64w in
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Oil

Bronze Goat
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito Bronze Goat, 2014 acrylic on canvas 42.25h x 50w in
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Acrylic

#77
By Kikuo Saito
Located in New York, NY
Kikuo Saito #77, 2002 acrylic and pastel on paper 13h x 10w in
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Kikuo Saito Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic

#77
H 13 in W 10 in

Kikuo Saito art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Kikuo Saito art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Kikuo Saito in paint, canvas, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Kikuo Saito art, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Michael David, Friedel Dzubas, and Katsunori Hamanishi. Kikuo Saito art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,200 and tops out at $148,500, while the average work can sell for $60,000.

Artists Similar to Kikuo Saito

Recently Viewed

View All