Keiko Minami (1911–2004) - 20th Century Etching Autumn Trees, Green Chair

Description

An utterly charming etching from the prolific and successful print maker, Keiko Minami. The etching has in plate colouring, showing two tall trees, their orange leaves fallen to the ground around the trunks and a green chair to the right. An orange bird sits in the bare branches of the trees and a blue bird flies through the sky. The artist has signed in graphite to the lower right and numbered (7/50) to the lower left. The etching has been presented in a simple black frame with card mount. The original plate lines are intact and the original sheet is uncropped. On wove.

Condition

Very faint line of discolouration to the right side. In otherwise fine condition.

Size

37 x 28cm (14.6" x 11")
Framed Size: 63 x 51cm (24.8" x 20.1")

Artist Biography

Keiko Minami was a Japanese artist, aquatint engraver, and poet. She is best known for her pictograph-like aquatints with a whimsical, childlike aesthetic.
Keiko Minami was born in the Imizu District of Toyama Prefecture in 1911. She was orphaned at a young age and was raised along with her sisters by their uncle.
Minami expressed an early interest in the arts. She painted and wrote poetry in high school, and studied the art of children's stories under the Japanese novelist and poet Sakae Tsuboi. She attended the School of Fine Arts Tokyo, from 1927 until 1929. Between early 30s and mid-40s, Minami likely returned to and stayed in Toyama. She got married and had a son.
Minami and Hamaguchi moved to Paris in late 1953 where Minami began studying under Friedlaender, a pioneer in aquatint etching at the time, at the Johnny Friedlaender Print Institute. She became a member of the Free Artist Association in 1955, and in 1956 her work Fūkei, was purchased by the French Ministry of Education. In 1957, Hitsujikai no shōjo (羊飼いの少女, Shepherdess with Her Flock) was selected to be on the Christmas card from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and in 1958, Heiwa no ki (平和の木, Tree of Peace) was reprinted on the greeting card of UNICEF, and Minami was named Official Artist of the United Nations in 1959.
In the 1960s, Minami's interest in literature led her to take on illustration projects for writers.
In 1981, Minami moved from Paris to San Francisco and returned to Japan in 1996 after more than forty years abroad.
In 1984, Minami was nominated as an honorary member of the Japan Print Association.
In 2000, her husband Yōzō Hamaguchi died and Minami died December 1, 2004, at a hospital in Minato-ku, Tokyo, due to myocardial infarction.