SATO KEY (1906–1978), RIVIÈRE DE PIERRE | SHOWA PERIOD, 20TH CENTURY

Born in Ōita Prefecture, Sato studied under the renowned yōga (Western-style) artist Fujishima Takeji (1867–1943) in the Western Painting Department at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku). After his graduation in 1929, Sato attended the Académie Colarossi in Paris where he remained until 1934. Upon his return to Japan, he co-founded the New Creation Association (Shin-Seisaku Kyokai) with Kayama Matazō (1927–2004). In 1952 Sato moved back to Paris, where he was inspired by Cubism and Abstraction. He returned to Japan in 1978 and died later that year. The Ōita Prefectural Art Museum (Ōitakenritsu Bijutsukan) held a retrospective exhibition of Sato’s oeuvre in 1979.

Sato exhibited works at the Salon d'Automne in Paris 1931-33, the Carnegie International Exhibitions in Pittsburgh 1952 and 1964, the Salon de Mai in Paris 1956-59 and the 30th Venice Biennale in 1960. In 1963 he participated in the Japanese Avant Garde Art Exhibition in Milan and the Sao Paulo Biennale [remove e from Biennale]. He staged solo shows at the Sanmaido Gallery in Tokyo in 1934, the Tokyo Gallery in 1951 and 1954, the Galerie Mirador in Paris in 1954, the Galerie Jacques Massol 1959-61 and 1964 in Paris, the Hamilton Galleries in London in 1964, and the World House Galleries in New York in 1965.