Hiroyuki Tajima

'Abstract in Turquoise and Copper', Sosaku-Hanga, NMAO, Tokyo, LACMA, Benezit

1979

Signed lower right outside of block, 'Hiroyuki Tajima' (Japanese, 1911-1984) and dated 1973 with limitation and number, '50-4', lower center and titled lower left, 'The Rain'. Paper dimensions: 19.75 x 12.5 inches An elegant abstract comprising overlapping forms in deep ruby, coral and jade. 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...

Signed lower right, 'Douglas McClellan', dated 1988 and titled lower left, 'Cretan View'; additionally signed, titled, dated and media noted as 'monotype with collage' on verso. A ...

Signed lower right in graphite, 'Shoichi Hasegawa 長谷川 彰一' (Japanese-French, born 1929), titled lower center, 'le chapiteau et la guitare', with number...

Signed, lower right, 'Estève' for Maurice Estève (French, 1904-2001) and inscribed, lower left 'E d'A' for Epreuve d'Artiste. Provenance: Collection of Ann and Norman Bikales, Pebble Beach, California. Maurice Estève was born May 2, 1904 in Culan in the Cher where he spent his childhood with his grandparents. In 1913, he joined them in Paris, where he discovered the Louvre Museum and was particularly impressed by Uccello's Battle of San Romano...

Signed lower right, in pencil, 'Ross Wetzel' (American, 1917 - 2013), titled lower left, 'E Pluribus Unum' and with number and limitation, '118/300'. Paper dimensions: 14 x 21 inches. Born in Chicago, Ross Wetzel was an avid art student through high school, and then enrolled- with his future wife and fellow artist, Janice- at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He was soon working for Walt Disney Productions, taking lead production roles in the creation of such Disney classics as Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi. During the Second World War, he served with the Motion Picture Unit of the First Army Air Corp under Ronald Reagan, creating training films for fighter pilots and bombers and working beside actors including Alan Ladd and Clark Gable. After the War, Ross and Janice started a serigraphy business, which came to be known as Ross Wetzel Studios creating animated commercials and print advertisements for companies such as Kellogg's, Kleenex and Continental Airlines that featured such characters as Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam. Ross was also hired to illustrate one of the first renderings of Smokey the Bear...

Signed lower right, 'Bolin' for Gustav Bolin (Swedish, 1920-1999) and dated 1972; blind stamp lower left 'Editions du Damier - Paris' and inscribed lower left with number and limitat...

Keiji Shinohara was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. After 10 years as an apprentice to the renowned Keiichiro Uesugi in Kyoto, he became a Master Printmaker and moved to the United ...

2005 Sixteen color Ukiyo-e style woodcut Image/sheet: 26 x 38 in. Edition of 50 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin

2009 Thirty-one color Ukiyo-e style woodcut Image/sheet: 25 1/4 x 37 1/4 in. Edition of 50 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Artist: Keisuke Serizawa, Japanese (1895-1984) Title: Metamorphosis of Zan Biell Year: circa 1970 Medium: Woodcut on Rice Paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: AP Size: 29 x...

Large scale limited edition woodcut print of an an abstracted scene with landscape elements and rough figural forms including a dog, house and tree that emerge from chaotic linear ab...

This work is immediately recognizable as the work of Haku Maki (1924-2000). It is one of his well-known abstract compositions. The print is in very good condition, with no flaws noted on the surface. There is some very, very light toning in the margins, barely visible only under bright light. Maki Haku (巻白, 1924–2000) is the artistic name of Maejima Tadaaki, who was born in Ibaraki Prefecture. He was a sōsaku-hanga artist in 20th Century Japan. During World War II, Maejima Tadaaki was trained as a kamikaze pilot in the Japanese air force, but the war ended before he was assigned a mission. Haku had no formal art training, but studied for two years with the sōsaku-hanga artist Onchi Kōshirō...