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, '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...