KEIKO MINAMI Japanese Hand Colored Artist Proof Etching SAILBOATS

Keiko Minami (1911-2004) hand colored artist proof etching of sailboats. Signed at lower right. Frame measures 19 1/2" x 21 1/2", image measures 11 1/2" x 11 1/2". 

10689-16

As found on Art.Net: Keiko Minami was a celebrated Japanese printmaker and author. Best known for her pictograph-like aquatints of castles, animals, flowers, and children, she employed a whimsical and child-like aesthetic that was at times similar to the work of the abstract painter Paul Klee, who served as a lifelong influence. Her work is characterized by its high level of intricacy and detailed linework which, coupled with her choice of gentle imagery, create a uniquely haunting aesthetic. Born on February 12, 1911 in Toyama, Japan, she was orphaned as a young age and raised along with her sisters by their uncle. Minami was interested in the illustrations of children’s stories from a young age, and later studied under the children’s book author and poet Sakae Tsuboi before attending the School of Fine Arts in Tokyo, where she met her husband the artist Yozo Hamaguchi. They later moved to Paris in 1953, where she learned from Johnny Friedlander, an expert in aquatint techniques, allowing to further expand her printmaking practice. At the height of her career, Minami’s images were reproduced as greeting cards for organizations such as UNICEF and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today, her works can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the San Diego Museum of Art, among others.