Kumi Sugaï Balance/Libra silkscreen op art

Kumi Sugaï "Balance" (Libra) signed limited edition Silkscreen 146/150, Zodiac series, op art, hard-edge abstraction

Description

Kumi Sugaï, 1970 "Balance" (Libra), original hand-signed silkscreen (serigraph) in colors from the Zodiac series, numbered 146/150 in pencil. A bold geometric composition in yellow, black, emerald green, red and white: a black circle set inside a black-framed yellow square, with a green arched scale beam holding a red-and-white circle on one side and a red-and-white triangle on the other. The motif is a graphic reading of the Libra scales. The flat, saturated color fields and razor-sharp edges are typical of Sugaï's hard-edge, pop-influenced Paris period.

The sheet is signed "Sugaī" in pencil lower center and numbered 146/150 lower right. "BALANCE" is printed lower left. The print is on smooth white paper with wide margins.

Printed in Japan

Dimensions: H 70 x W 70 cm (H 27.6 x W 27.6 in)

About the artist

Kumi Sugaï (1919 Kobe – 1996 Tokyo) was one of the leading Japanese artists of the postwar School of Paris. He trained in Osaka, moved to Paris in 1952, and first worked in an Art Informel, gestural style. From the late 1950s he turned to a personal visual language of flat color, strong contours and simplified signs. It drew on Japanese family crests (mon), calligraphy, road signs, neon and the language of pop culture, which put him close to hard-edge abstraction and Op Art. He exhibited at major international biennials, including Venice and São Paulo, and his work is held in museum collections in Europe and Japan. His prints are prized for their precision and graphic power, and they sit well in mid-century modern, Space Age and contemporary interiors.

Why collect it

Signed and numbered limited edition from a well-regarded Japanese artist

Iconic zodiac motif (Libra / scales), a good gift for Libra birthdays (roughly 23 September – 22 October)

Strong color impact, with a square format that is easy to frame and hang

Fits collections of Op Art, hard-edge, 1970s graphic art, Japanese modern art and School of Paris

Details
Creator: Kumi Sugaï | Title: Balance (Libra) | Medium: silkscreen / serigraph in colors on paper | Edition: 146/150, pencil-signed | Style: Op Art, hard-edge abstraction, Pop-influenced | Origin: printed in Japan | Subject: zodiac, geometric abstraction

Wear consistent with age and use.

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Colors may slightly vary due to photographic lighting sources or your monitor settings.

Kumi Sugaï was a Japanese painter. Best known for his Minimalist and Hard Edge geometric abstractions, Sugai was influenced by the relationships between Japanese calligraphy and Western typography. His paintings often featured a singular, centrally placed shape and a highly graphic aesthetic. Born in Kobe, Japan on March 13, 1919, he developed an interest in art at a young age, initially enrolling at the Osaka School of Fine Arts in 1933 and later dropping out to work in commercial advertising during the Second World War. By 1952, Sugai settled in Paris, where he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere and absorbed contemporary Western painting styles, including Abstract Expressionism and, later, Minimalism and Pop Art. At first, Sugai adopted traditional ukiyo-e woodblock techniques, using bright colors to create prints infused with avant-garde art influences. In the 1960s, however, he transitioned into painting and printing more geometric images of letters and directional signs. Before his death on May 14, 1996 in Kobe, Japan, Sugai achieved international success, participating in the Pittsburgh International five times between 1955 and 1970, and holding a major retrospective of his work at the Seibu Museum of Art in Tokyo in 1983.

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