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Milt Kobayashi"Blue Angel"2021
2021
About the Item
There is a quiet sophistication in Milt Kobayashi’s painted canvases,
summoning a pensive, ethereal feeling in the viewer. Kobayashi’s
subjects are people from another time and place, yet, they are
strangely familiar. They are urban dwellers lost in thought as they
take a momentary respite from their routine. Kobayashi’s people
are absorbed in the world of contemplation and meditation–making
them attractively aloof.
A third generation Japanese-American, Kobayashi was born in New
York City, soon after that this family moved to Oahu, Hawaii, and
then ventured to Los Angeles when he was eight. After receiving his
B.A. in 1970 from the University of California-Los Angeles,
Kobayashi began working as an illustrator. In 1977, Kobayashi
returned to New York City. As a young illustrator working in New
York, Kobayashi frequented the Metropolitan Museum of Art to study
the old masters — Sargent, Chase, Duvanek, Vuillard and especially
the paintings of Velazquez. Strangely enough, it was through the
study of western masters, especially Whistler, that Kobayashi
became aware of Japanese art and “the Japanese floating world of
Edo”. He began studying the 16th and 17th century Japanese Ukiyo-
e woodblock print masters Hokasai, Sharaku and Utamaro. The
whole perspective of Japanese art allures him — the patterns, color,
harmonies, use of negative space, and primarily, composition and
design.
Kobayashi himself a creature of the city at night, is drawn to the
same foreboding, nocturnal scenes that magnetized Toulouse-
Lautrec. Known for his urban cafe and bar scenes which dominated
his work in the 90’s, he has moved to the non-smoking section and is
gravitating toward quieter settings — an afternoon tearoom, a
milliner’s shop, the tranquility of a private home. Still a tonalist, he
admits to a growing freedom in his use of color. The intricacies in
fabrics and accessories fade as patches of stronger color emerge.
Backgrounds of red or green and the artist’s extensive use of black
intensify his compositional use of negative space and serve to focus
attention on atmosphere. While he is less and less a painter of
details, it is the hint of detail that most intrigues us, and Milt
Kobayashi has perfected the fine art of subtlety.
British art correspondent, Godfrey Barker wrote of Kobayashi, “Milt
Kobayashi’s compositions are wicked in their education, wicked in
their skillful calculation and wickedly clever in their balance, their
tonal contrasts and their negative space. In short, we’re looking at
an unusually professional and well-sourced artist, cultivated in a
manner uncommon in the desert of Disney that is modern America.
He’s apart from his age and we need to see more of him!” (London
Evening Standard, November 1988.)
Kobayashi has received two major awards: the National Academy of
Design’s Ranger Purchased Award and the Allied Arts Silver Medal.
His work has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, and Reader’s Digest
magazines. His work was featured at the Artist of America show in
Denver, CO for several years and he has had many sold out shows
throughout the United States and England.
- Creator:Milt Kobayashi (1949, American)
- Creation Year:2021
- Dimensions:Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Scottsdale, AZ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU184211600062
About the Seller
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Associations
Art Dealers Association of America
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
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