John Little

Portrait of A

1958

Artist: Sakurai Takami - Japanese (1928-2016) Title: Invitation to the Paradise ST#11 Year: circa 1972 Medium: Oil on Canvas Sight size: 18 x 24 inches. Framed size: 21 x 27 inches Signature: Unsigned. Label on old frame Condition: Very good Frame: Framed in original frame. Frame in poor condition This oil on canvas is by the noted avant garde Japanese artist Sakurai Takami (1928-2016). It was created sometime between 1971, when Takami lived in San Francisco and was a member of and exhibited with the “Konnyaku Commune” and 1978 when he exhibited with the Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco. This painting was purchased from the Vorpal Gallery. The painting is in very good condition. It is unsigned, but the title is on the side of the metal frame. The frame is fine, but the mat is stained and in poor condition. I will include the frame for protection and provenance. Sakurai was a main member of the avant-garde art group “Kyushu-ha”. Kyushu-ha” created a major trend among contemporary art in post-war Japan, which spread from Fukuoka to the whole country and also France, the United States and other overseas countries. Throughout his life he was very dramatic; his enormous and diverse works are energetic and face us with the true meaning of expression. Initially his main focus was on informal paintings, but it gradually expanded towards anti-artistic objects and performances. His works are characterized by the usage of materials that are connected with the smell of a workers life, such as coal tar, asphalt, woven mats and dungarees (jute bag). Shortly after Kyushu-ha disbanded in 1968, Sakurai Takami moved to San Francisco. From 1973 onward, he lived in France. The people and faces in Sakurai’s paintings are coloured red, so that the colour, a symbol of heat, becomes a “social sign”. Each person has a life of their own, while at the same time expressing the colourful life of human communities, like the hippies. His theme may be drawing “humanity and the universe” with a loving embrace of “peace” and “life”. 1953 graduated Fukuoka Liberal Arts University 1955 40th Nika Art Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum 1956 Persona Exhibition, outer west side of the Fukuoka prefectural office 1957-68 part of Kyushu-ha 1965 went to the United States (~’67) 1970 “Kanousei e no Ishi“ Kitakyushu Hachiman Museum of Art Kyushu: Trends in Japanese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Fukuoka Bunka Hall Sakurai Takami solo exhibition, Fukuoka Bunka Hall went to the United States for the second time, started working with the konyaku commune (San Francisco) 1971 Konyaku Revolution Art Exhibition (San Francisco) 1973 Nagoya mayor nominating election convention, Azabu public hall moved to France 1974 formed the group “Kusuguri” (Paris) 1975 7th...

“The Front #2” by Eugene Healy, 2020. Fabric collage and oil on canvas. 11.75 x 28.5 Frame: 29.5 x 13.5 inches. His abstract, landscape painting features an abstracted seascape with ...