Kumi Sugaï ‘Ciel et le Ciel‘ 1970 Printed in Japan

Original Color Lithograph | Signed & Numbered | Edition of 100

An exceptional work by Japanese-French master Kumi Sugaï (1919–1996), “Ciel et le Ciel” (translated as “Sky and the Sky”) captures the artist’s signature geometric abstraction and poetic symbolism. Printed in Japan in 1970 by Fb, this rare original lithograph is from a limited edition of 100—hand-signed and numbered in pencil by Sugaï himself.

Sugaï’s mastery of form, balance, and bold color is evident in this striking composition, where sharp blue zig-zag lines enclose two circular forms—one in red, the other bisected in blue and grayscale. The pink vertical gradients evoke a totemic presence, suggesting celestial and earthly dialogue. The image is both minimal and rich with metaphor, a beautiful example of Sugaï’s fusion of Japanese calligraphic heritage with European avant-garde influences.

Details:

• Title: Ciel et le Ciel
• Artist: Kumi Sugaï
• Date: 1970
• Medium: Original color lithograph
• Paper size: 62 x 50 cm (approx. 24.4 x 19.7 inches)
• Edition: 77/100
• Signed: In pencil by the artist
• Provenance: Printed in Japan by Fb
• Condition: Excellent vintage condition with deckled edges

About the Artist:

Kumi Sugaï was born in Kobe, Japan, and moved to Paris in 1952, where he became an influential figure in the postwar abstract art scene. He developed a distinct visual language blending Zen aesthetics, urban symbolism, and European abstraction. Sugaï exhibited at the Salon de Mai, the Tokyo Biennale, and earned international acclaim for his lithographs, paintings, and public murals. His works are held in major museum collections, including MoMA, Centre Pompidou, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

This piece is a museum-quality acquisition for collectors of Japanese modernism, mid-century abstract art, or 1970s graphic works. Professionally stored and ready to frame.

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

Wear consistent with age and use.

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KUMI SUGAÏ, JAPAN (1919 - 1996)

Kumi Sugaï was a painter, sculptor and print maker born in 1919 in Kobe, Japan. Sugaï first experimented with oil painting at age nine and became a student at the Osaka School of Fine Arts in 1933 when he was fourteen. He met with the Gutai Art Association founder, Jiro Yoshihara which had a huge impact on his further artistic development and experimentalism. He was part of the first generation of 20th-century Japanese artists to become acquainted with Western painting techniques (under the instructions of Yoshihara), but he also explored both typography and Japanese calligraphy, important in his subsequent work. Sugaï left art school prematurely to work in commercial advertising for Hankyu electric rail company from 1937 to 1945.

These formative years of practicing Western and traditional Japanese mediums gave a dual foundation to his future work. He dedicated himself to painting and moved to Paris in 1952, enrolling at the Académie de la grand chaumière, being one of the first generation of the post-war Japanese artists to join the international avant-garde art scene. Sugai was immediately noticed in Paris for his delicate touch and use of abstract gestures resembling primitive forms. He had his first solo show at Galerie Craven in 1954. In 1955 he made his first work in edition (Diable Rouge, a lithograph) and decided that from now on print work (lithographs, etchings and later silkscreens) was going to be an important part of his oeuvre. One of the reasons was to make his work more accessible. Between 1955 and 1996 Sugaï produced a little under 400 works in edition.

Considered part of the École de Paris (School of Paris) and the Nouveau Réalisme (New Realism) movements, in 1962 he began to move from calligraphic, mainly monochromatic, organic motifs to more hard-edge geometric forms painted with clear colors. This aesthetic was more often than not influenced by speeding the curves of the freeways surrounding Paris in his beloved Porsche. He was possessed with speed and in a lot of his work we find abstracted roads (The S shape) details of roadsigns, parkings and in general an abstract visual language inspired by what he would see through his window moving at great speed. City and rural Landscapes transformed into simple colored compositions. Sugaï found great joy in the act of repetition and some iconic shapes have been appearing in his work throughout his whole career, first loosely and soft in his early etchings, paintings and lithographs, later hard edged and straight in his silkscreens.

Sugai died in Kobe in 1996.

His artworks were shown in numerous exhibitions around the world and most of his paintings are in the collections of well-known museums (Such as MOMA, the Guggenheim and Centre Pompidou) and important collectors. Vintage Objects offers a broad and ever changing selection of Sugai’s work in edition, ranging from early etchings to late silkscreens and lithographs.