EAST TO WEST: SIMPLICITY AND CHANCE
ART BY ASIAN-AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY WORKS MADE IN THE POST WAR ERA, REMAINS UNDERAPPRECIATED IN MAJOR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS AND SPARSE IN HISTORICAL ART SCHOLARSHIP. MID-CENTURY AMERICAN ABSTRACTION AND THE INFLUENCE OF ASIAN ART IS OFTEN LEFT OUT OF THE CONVERSATION OF THE WESTERN DOCTRINE. THE VISIBILITY OF THESE ARTISTS UNTIL RECENTLY FACED A DISCRIMINATION AT THE TIME OF THEIR CREATION DUE TO THE ANTI-JAPANESE SENTIMENTS THAT ROSE IN THE EARLY 1940’S FROM THEIR ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR.
FROM THE LATE 1940’S THROUGHOUT THE 1950’S ARTISTS FROM “THE CLUB” SUCH AS POLLOCK, DE KOONING, REINHARDT AND GUSTON WERE INFLUENCED AND REFLECTED ZEN PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS EMBRACING NATURE AND ITS SIMPLICITY AND CHANCE. MARKING UP SPACES WITH SENSUOUS BRUSHWORK ALLOWED A FLUIDITY TO THEIR INTUITION ALLOWING ZEN INFLUENCE IN HELPING THEM TO REVEAL THEMSELVES ARTISTICALLY.
INCLUDED IN OUR CATALOGUE IS A 1961 WORK BY HSIAO CHIN PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY BERNICE MCLHENNY WINTERSTEEN, THE PAST PRESIDENT OF THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART FROM 1964 – 1968. THIS WORK WAS EXHIBITED AT THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE IN 1961 AND THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART IN 1963. ALSO INCLUDED ARE WORKS BY GENICHIRO INOKUMA WHOSE MUSEUM THE “MARUGAME GENICHIRO INOKUMA MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART WAS BUILT IN MARUGAME, JAPAN IN 1991, REIJI KIMURA, A WORK FROM THE SAME PERIOD HE EXHIBITED IN THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S EXHIBITION “THE NEW JAPANESE PAINTING AND SCULPTURE” AND WALASSE TING, A RECIPIENT OF THE GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP IN 1970 AND IN THE COLLECTION OF THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, MOMA, ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, TATE, AND CENTRE POMPIDOU.
EAST TO WEST: SIMPLICITY AND CHANCE DISPLAYS THE OVERLAPPING EVIDENCE THESE ASIAN-AMERICAN ARTISTS HAD ON THEIR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS DURING A TIME THAT WAS VASTLY OVERLOOKED. THESE PARALLEL HISTORIES BROADEN OUR VISUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR INFLUENCE WHICH OFTEN GOES UNCREDITED.
AMERICAN, 1919-1993
UNTITLED, C. 1960
WATERCOLOR ON HANDMADE PAPER
17 × 12 1/2 INCHES
SIGNED AT LOWER RIGHT
PROVENANCE:
PRIVATE COLLECTION, CHICAGO
EAST TO WEST: SIMPLICITY AND CHANCE
KIKUO SAITO
JAPANESE/AMERICAN, 1939-2016
CHEROKEE, 1980
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
58 × 91 INCHES
62 × 95 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED, TITLED & DATED VERSO
PROVENANCE:
SUZANNE MATHEWS, SAN ANTONIO
PRIVATE COLLECTION (ACQUIRED FROM THE ABOVE IN 2005)
THENCE BY DESCENT TO THE PRESENT OWNER
WALASSE TING
CHINESE / AMERICAN, 1929 - 2010
MUCH MORE RAIN, 1968
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
60 X 35 1/2 INCHES
SIGNED, TITLED A&DATED ON VERSO
PROVENACE: PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
TARO YAMAMOTO AMERICAN, 1919 - 1993
AMERICAN, 1919-1993
CUCHI, 1987
OIL ON CANVAS
50 × 40 INCHES
SIGNED & DATED LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE: PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK TARO
YAMAMOTO
KIKUO SAITO
JAPANESE / AMERICAN, 1939 - 2016
WHITE PINE, 1983
OIL ON CANVAS
42 1/2 X 78 INCHES
45 X 80 1/4 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED & DATED VERSO
PROVENACE:
SALANDER O'REILLY GALLERIES, NY ( LABEL VERSO)
KIKUO SAITO
JAPANESE / AMERICAN, 1939 - 2016
EVA'S JUMP, 1975
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
50 X 40 INCHES
53 X 43 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED, TITLED & DATED VERSO
PROVENACE:
DAVID DEITCHER GALLERY (LABEL VERSO)
A PRIVATE GEORGIA COLLECTION
YAMAMOTO
UNTITLED, 1957
OIL ON CANVAS
50 X 70 INCHES
SIGNED AT LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE:
THE ESTATE OF WALTER P. CHRYSLER
JAMES SUZUKI
AMERICAN, 1933-2022
UNTITLED, 1961
OIL ON CANVAS
38 1/4 × 29 1/4 INCHES
39 1/2 × 30 1/2 INCHES FRAMED SIGNED AND DATED LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE:
PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
TETSUO OCHIKUBO
AMERICAN, 1923-1975
ABSTRACT, 1958
OIL ON CANVAS
18 × 24 INCHES
26 X 32 INCHES FRAMED SIGNED AT LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE: A PRIVATE UPSTATE NEW YORK INSTITUTION
JAMES SUZUKI
AMERICAN, 1933-2022
UNTITLED, C. 1960
OIL ON CANVAS
26 X 19 1/2 INCHES
37 X 30 5/8 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE:
PRIVATE COLLECTION, NY
REIJI KIMURA
JAPANESE, 1926-2021
UNTITLED, C. 1964
OIL AND METAL PAINT ON PAPER ON CANVAS 15 1/2 X 14 3/8 INCHES
SIGNED AND DATED LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE:
THE ESTATE OF THE ARTIST WEINBERG MODERN, NEW YORK
GEORGE CHANN
CHINESE / AMERICAN, 1913- 1995
MOTTLED PEBBLE, 1968
OIL ON CANVAS
30 1/2 X 23 1/4 INCHES
40 X 32 1/2 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED LOWER RIGHT
PROVENACE:
ACQUIRED DIRECTLY FROM THE ARTIST IN 1968 BY WALTER & NANCY
JOHNSON IN LOS ANGELES TO JAY STARKER, VINEYARD STUDIOS SARASOTA TO CURRENT OWNER
GENICHIRO INOKUMA
JAPANESE, 1902-1993
POWERFUL SOUND, C. 1960
OIL ON CANVAS
47 3/4 × 54 INCHES
53 1/2 × 59 1/2 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED “GUEN” LOWER CENTER
PROVENANCE: WILLARD GALLERY, NEW YORK
THE ESTATE OF KAZUKO NAGAMATSU
EXHIBITED: MARY WASHINGTON ANNUAL, FREDERICKSBURG, VA (LABEL VERSO)
HSIAO CHIN
CHINESE, B. 1935
RICORDO DI ROBERTO SCUDERI (IN MEMORY OF ROBERTO SCUDERI), 1961
OIL ON CANVAS
47 1/8 × 55 INCHES
50 × 58 INCHES FRAMED
SIGNED & DATED LOWER RIGHT
PROVENANCE:
COLLECTION OF BERNICE MCILHENNY WINTERSTEEN (PRESIDENT OF THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART)
PRIVATE COLLECTION, SOUTH CAROLINA (BY FAMILY DESCENT)
EXHIBITED:
“THE 1961 PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTING AND SCULPTURE,” CARNEGIE INSTITUTE, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, OCTOBER 27, 1961 - JANUARY 7, 1962, IN THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE NO. 168 (NOT ILLUSTRATED).
“PHILADELPHIA COLLECTS 20TH CENTURY,” PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
OCTOBER 3 - NOVEMBER 17, 1963
IN THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE, P. 19 (NOT ILLUSTRATED).
