Onosato Toshinobu Exhibition

Jan. 10［Fri.］―Feb. 1［Sat.］, 2020 11:00-19:00
Gallery closed on Sunday, Monday, and national holidays.

In March 2020, Toki no Wasuremono will bring "Onosato Toshinobu Exhibition" to Art Basel Hong Kong.
Before the works are shipped to Hong Kong, we will present 17 of the oil paintings, watercolors, and prints here in Komagome.
We hope that you can visit.

Alongside Yamaguchi Takeo (1902-1983), Yoshihara Jiro (1905-1972), Q Ei (1911-1960), and Sugai Kumi (1919-1996), Onosato Toshinobu (1912-1986) is one of Japan's representative abstract painters; he and his close friend Q Ei were pioneers of the avant garde art scene from before the war. At the same time that he first exhibited in the Nika Exhibition in 1935, he and several young avant garde artists formed the Black Yoga Exhibition. In 1938, he became a member of the Jiyu Bijutsuka Kyokai (from 1956, he was unaffiliated with any group). In 1904, he garnered attention with "Black and White Circle" (now in the collection of the MoMAT), which included constructivist aspects which were unusual at the time. He was drafted into the army in 1941 and was released back to Japan in 1948 after doing hard labor at a Siberian prison camp. In 1953, he held his first solo exhibition at Takemiya Gallery at the recommendation of Takiguchi Shuzo. He began to focus on circles around 1945, eventually settling on a base of orange, yellow, green, and blue. His work from this time was done in an abstract geometric style, with circles floating up from a square mosaic which covered the canvas. Onosato called this the “basic circle period”, and continued until 1959. The “basic circle period” ended in 1960 and became the “fractured circle period” - Onosato began to create large circles which were fractured into many fine square forms. In 1961, he had his first international solo exhibition at Gres Gallery in Washington, D.C.. The next year he had a solo exhibition at Minami Gallery; following that, his works found many international buyers thanks to the efforts of Shimizu Kusuo. In 1963 Onosato was awarded the Grand Prix at the 7th Japan International Art Show, shooting him to the front lines of contemporary art. In 1964 his work was exhibited at the Guggenheim International Art Award Exhibition, and was also added to their permanent collection. He represented Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1964 and 1966.

Onosato rarely stepped foot outside his atelier. He led an isolated life, spending all day with a brush in his hand, creating many oil and watercolor paintings. Domestically, his works are collected in many institutions including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.

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