INOUE YUICHI Kai

• LOT

  1806

• Artist

  INOUE YUICHI ( 1916 - 1985 )

• Estimate

  2,800,000 - 3,600,000 121,739 - 156,522 140,000 - 180,000 560,000 - 720,000 17,500 - 22,500

  JPY RMB HKD TWD USD

• Result

  Members only

• Details

  ink on Japanese paper　hanging scroll　1978
  stamped signature
  CR78064
  The title refers to the sea.
  original box: signed by Arita Kosuke and two stamped signatures
  Publication: "Yu-ichi INOUE catalogue Vol.3" P.170, CR78064, UNAC TOKYO
  
  INOUE YUICHI, born in Tokyo in 1916, was an artist who represents Japan in the late 20th century. He is often remembered as a wild and uninhibited figure, with his shaved head, wielding a giant brush, splashing ink, crawling and rolling on the ground, as if no one else existed. "He was a simple schoolteacher by day and an avant-garde artist at home," is how those who knew him described him. While the rest of Japan was indulging in rapid economic growth, he remained obscure, grounded, and genuine, and eventually honed himself into an artist who came to represent Japan and left his mark on the history of world art.
  
  He pursued the written character not merely as a linguistic symbol, but as a powerful visual form imbued with life. In his single-character works, a single ideograph condenses thought, emotion, and physical expression, while the movement of the brush, the diffusion of ink, and the surrounding blank space all become essential elements of the composition. In this work as well, the character transcends its literal meaning, as the vigorous brushwork fills the surface with tension and dynamic energy. By transforming written language from something to be read into something to be experienced visually, Inoue expanded the expressive possibilities of calligraphy and earned widespread recognition both in Japan and internationally.
  
  55.0×68.0cm
  (21 ⅝ × 26 ¾ in.)　

• Organizer

  Jo's Auction

• Auction

  Jo’s Auction Autumn Auction of Art Works 2026

• Catalog

  Contemporary Art/Modern&Post-War Art

• Date

  2026/10/21