YAMAZAKI TSURUKO Lion

• LOT

  832

• Artist

  YAMAZAKI TSURUKO ( 1925 - 2019 )

• Estimate

  800,000 - 1,600,000 40,000 - 80,000 42,105 - 84,211 160,000 - 320,000 5,333 - 10,667

  JPY RMB HKD TWD USD

• Result

  JPY1,500,000

• Details

  acrylic on canvas　framed　1982
  signed and dated on the reverse
  Provenance: A Gallery in Osaka
  Exhibited: GUTAI An Enduring Spirit (Osaka / ICHION CONTEMPORARY) January - May 2025
  
  YAMAZAKI TSURUKO, was one of the female founding members of the Gutai Art Association in 1954 and remained active until its dissolution in the 1970s. Following Shimamoto Shozo, she was among the earliest to study under Yoshihara Jiro and became a central figure of Gutai, exhibiting from the 1st Gutai Art Exhibition in 1955 through the 21st in 1968.
  Between 1954 and 1957, Yamazaki created works using tinplate and mirrors, emphasizing their reflective and glistening qualities. After meeting French critic Michel Tapié in 1957, she shifted to painting, developing a distinctive style that combined geometric forms with manga-like speech bubbles and graffiti-like lines. By deliberately avoiding harmonious color schemes, she created compositions where elements coexisted while colliding, embodying her pursuit of "unpredictability."
  After Yoshihara's sudden death in 1972 and the dissolution of Gutai, Yamazaki's practice entered a new phase. In 1976, she unveiled a series featuring motifs such as pachinko, pinball, and animals—a dramatic break from abstraction that reaffirmed her commitment to unpredictability.
  
  She pursued the unexpected, the chaotic, and the free through material, composition, and color—embodying Gutai's radical innovation while developing her own distinctive artistic language. From the late 1970s into the early 1980s, she incorporated motifs such as dogs, pigs, gorillas, and lions, creating figurative works that fused popular culture with surrealist and pop aesthetics.
  Lion (1982) exemplifies this period. The lion's image is partially obscured by vivid horizontal color bands, producing layered rhythms of fragmentation and synthesis. This approach reflects both a continuation of Gutai's early spirit of experimentation and her liberated personal expression, securing her place in the history of Japanese avant-garde art.
  Her work has earned critical recognition in Japan and abroad, with major pieces held in the collections of the Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
  
  54.5×48.5cm
  (21 ¼ × 19 ⅛ in.)(F10)　

• Organizer

  Jo's Auction

• Auction

  Jo’s Auction Autumn Auction of Art Works 2025

• Catalog

  Contemporary Art/Modern&Post-War Art

• Date

  2025/10/23