- 1046
Imai Toshimitsu
Estimate
1,000,000 - 2,000,000 HKD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed
Description
- Imai Toshimitsu
- Light of the Orient
- oil on canvas
signed in English and dated 70
Provenance
Fuji Group, Japan (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Asian Collection
Private Asian Collection
Exhibited
Japan, Osaka Expo '70, 1970 (VIP lounge of Fuji Group)
Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Big Paintings Group Show, 14 September - 7 Novemeber 2010
Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Landscape of East and West, 12 April - 19 June 2016
Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Big Paintings Group Show, 14 September - 7 Novemeber 2010
Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Landscape of East and West, 12 April - 19 June 2016
Literature
IMAÏ Toshimitsu, Kyuryudo Art Publishing, Tokyo, 1975, pp. 67-68, 101(installation view)
IMAÏ, Electa, Milan, Italy, 1998, pp. 188-189
IMAÏ, Electa, Milan, Italy, 1998, pp. 188-189
Condition
This work is generally in good condition. Craquelures are noted throughout the work especially in the impasto areas, concentrating most prominently in the upper left portion of the canvas. On the right portion, craquelures are visible on the white impasto and near the lower bottom edge. A minor paint loss is noted near the upper left border, and gentle canvas undulations are observed near the bottom border, located just left-centre of the lower edge. Overall the work is stable and in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Heaven On Fire
Imaï Toshimitsu
Even in Paris that looks at first gay and free, we must leap into the turmoil, living in the Parisian art world and participating in the creation of art. It is not allowed to remain a lukewarm onlooker, but must stand up [to] the others as creator and inspire the response of others. –Imaï Toshimitsu1
Heaven meets earth in the gloriously resplendent Light of the Orient (Lot 1046), a monumental six-meter magnum opus specially commissioned for the VIP gallery of the Fuji Group pavilion at the seminal Expo’70 (Osaka Banpaku) Art Exhibition in 1970. Expo’70 was the first world’s fair held in Japan, signaling Japan’s economic and cultural resurgence after the war and showcasing the latest in technology, design and architecture. The momentous occasion epitomized the pinnacle of post-war Japanese art: many of the most eminent artists of the time, including Gutai artists in particular, were commissioned to create some of their career’s most iconic masterpieces for display at the Expo. The current lot, executed by celebrated Informel artist Imaï Toshimitsu, was moved to Tokyo after the exhibition and displayed prominently at the gallery of Fuji Bank headquarters.
In the early 1950s, as a young Japanese painter thrust straight into the heart of Europe’s Informel movement, Imai’s early years in Paris displayed swift yet measured transitions in style and subject: rich colors burgeoned from hitherto dark monochromatic tones, outlines dissolved into abstract gestures and surfaces became dynamically, fiercely, textured. After a personal encounter with French critic Michel Tapié, Imaï officially abandoned all premeditated forms and wholeheartedly embraced expressionist processes, forsaking both outline and brush to throw on paint in thick splashes and spatters. Living out Informel’s unbridled spontaneity, Imaï also heaped and layered with knives and dripped acrylic directly onto canvas. His breakthrough new Informel works captivated Parisian media overnight: in 1957, writing in the catalogue for Imaï’s extremely well-received solo exhibition at Stadler Gallery, poet and critic Shuzo Takiguchi used the distinctive phrase une magie virginale (“a virginal magic”) to describe the raw exuberance of Imaï’s paintings.
The current lot’s stunning scale, majestic splendor and explosively complex tactility is archetypal of Imaï's truly phenomenal brand of gestural expressionism characterized by both grace and grandeur. A colossal eruption of fiery red dominates the upper left half of the canvas, under which mesmerizing sheens of rich earth colors shimmer and shine through. As the eye roves the canvas, subtly dynamic hues emerge in steady tides as if carried forth from the unfathomable depths of the painting itself, while rugged ridges, sinewy tendons and craggy crevices leap, writhe and cut through molten coatings of paint. The glossed lacquer finish is reminiscent of traditional Japanese pottery: in Takiguchi’s words, Imaï's art is “directed toward the sources, and goes back to the primitive elements of Japanese art whose masterpieces formerly realized the perfect unity of signs and matter […] Imaï admits in his picture his sympathy for the magic of earth and fire of ancient Japanese potters […] In the old craft of European painting Imaï is going to accomplish a virginal magic”.2
At once rugged and radiant, simultaneously gritty and graceful, the extraordinary piece exudes a cosmic dynamism that is heroically transcendent, epitomizing a grandiose sentiment of indomitable invincibility. Compared to contemporary Informel artists of the period, Imaï’s Japanese roots set him apart with a fresh aesthetic and East Asian sensibility that reach into the very depths of human existence. A tireless lifelong proponent as well as practitioner of Informel, Imaï went on to play a central role in introducing the movement to Japan, organizing the first Informel show in Japan as early as 1956 and promoting Tapié’s writings and theories in the country. In 1957 Imaï personally arranged for Tapié and Georges Mathieu to visit Japan; soon afterwards, Tapié and Mathieu became important associates and advocates of the Gutai movement in Europe and beyond.
1 IMAÏ Toshimitsu, Kyuryudo Art Publishing Co., Tokyo, 1975, p. 75
2 Refer to 1, p. 79
Imaï Toshimitsu
Even in Paris that looks at first gay and free, we must leap into the turmoil, living in the Parisian art world and participating in the creation of art. It is not allowed to remain a lukewarm onlooker, but must stand up [to] the others as creator and inspire the response of others. –Imaï Toshimitsu1
Heaven meets earth in the gloriously resplendent Light of the Orient (Lot 1046), a monumental six-meter magnum opus specially commissioned for the VIP gallery of the Fuji Group pavilion at the seminal Expo’70 (Osaka Banpaku) Art Exhibition in 1970. Expo’70 was the first world’s fair held in Japan, signaling Japan’s economic and cultural resurgence after the war and showcasing the latest in technology, design and architecture. The momentous occasion epitomized the pinnacle of post-war Japanese art: many of the most eminent artists of the time, including Gutai artists in particular, were commissioned to create some of their career’s most iconic masterpieces for display at the Expo. The current lot, executed by celebrated Informel artist Imaï Toshimitsu, was moved to Tokyo after the exhibition and displayed prominently at the gallery of Fuji Bank headquarters.
In the early 1950s, as a young Japanese painter thrust straight into the heart of Europe’s Informel movement, Imai’s early years in Paris displayed swift yet measured transitions in style and subject: rich colors burgeoned from hitherto dark monochromatic tones, outlines dissolved into abstract gestures and surfaces became dynamically, fiercely, textured. After a personal encounter with French critic Michel Tapié, Imaï officially abandoned all premeditated forms and wholeheartedly embraced expressionist processes, forsaking both outline and brush to throw on paint in thick splashes and spatters. Living out Informel’s unbridled spontaneity, Imaï also heaped and layered with knives and dripped acrylic directly onto canvas. His breakthrough new Informel works captivated Parisian media overnight: in 1957, writing in the catalogue for Imaï’s extremely well-received solo exhibition at Stadler Gallery, poet and critic Shuzo Takiguchi used the distinctive phrase une magie virginale (“a virginal magic”) to describe the raw exuberance of Imaï’s paintings.
The current lot’s stunning scale, majestic splendor and explosively complex tactility is archetypal of Imaï's truly phenomenal brand of gestural expressionism characterized by both grace and grandeur. A colossal eruption of fiery red dominates the upper left half of the canvas, under which mesmerizing sheens of rich earth colors shimmer and shine through. As the eye roves the canvas, subtly dynamic hues emerge in steady tides as if carried forth from the unfathomable depths of the painting itself, while rugged ridges, sinewy tendons and craggy crevices leap, writhe and cut through molten coatings of paint. The glossed lacquer finish is reminiscent of traditional Japanese pottery: in Takiguchi’s words, Imaï's art is “directed toward the sources, and goes back to the primitive elements of Japanese art whose masterpieces formerly realized the perfect unity of signs and matter […] Imaï admits in his picture his sympathy for the magic of earth and fire of ancient Japanese potters […] In the old craft of European painting Imaï is going to accomplish a virginal magic”.2
At once rugged and radiant, simultaneously gritty and graceful, the extraordinary piece exudes a cosmic dynamism that is heroically transcendent, epitomizing a grandiose sentiment of indomitable invincibility. Compared to contemporary Informel artists of the period, Imaï’s Japanese roots set him apart with a fresh aesthetic and East Asian sensibility that reach into the very depths of human existence. A tireless lifelong proponent as well as practitioner of Informel, Imaï went on to play a central role in introducing the movement to Japan, organizing the first Informel show in Japan as early as 1956 and promoting Tapié’s writings and theories in the country. In 1957 Imaï personally arranged for Tapié and Georges Mathieu to visit Japan; soon afterwards, Tapié and Mathieu became important associates and advocates of the Gutai movement in Europe and beyond.
1 IMAÏ Toshimitsu, Kyuryudo Art Publishing Co., Tokyo, 1975, p. 75
2 Refer to 1, p. 79