1956, Kenzo Okada, Quality -- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
From the museum label: Here an array of muted organic forms with hazy, roughly brushed edges takes on an atmospheric quality and openness reminiscent of Japanese landscape paintings. Rather than conjuring a specific scene, Okada often used pebbles and sticks to visualize his abstract compositions. As he explained, "Looking at a blank canvas, I see thereon the image which is within me and then I begin using my brush." After spending much of his career painting impressionist landscapes and portraits in Tokyo and Paris, Okada moved to New York in 1950. There he adopted a distinctive abstract style that blended his long engagement with European landscape traditions with a renewed interest in Japanese philosophy and aesthetics.
1956, Kenzo Okada, Quality -- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
From the museum label: Here an array of muted organic forms with hazy, roughly brushed edges takes on an atmospheric quality and openness reminiscent of Japanese landscape paintings. Rather than conjuring a specific scene, Okada often used pebbles and sticks to visualize his abstract compositions. As he explained, "Looking at a blank canvas, I see thereon the image which is within me and then I begin using my brush." After spending much of his career painting impressionist landscapes and portraits in Tokyo and Paris, Okada moved to New York in 1950. There he adopted a distinctive abstract style that blended his long engagement with European landscape traditions with a renewed interest in Japanese philosophy and aesthetics.