TOSHIMITSU IMAI (Kyoto, 1928 - 2002) Untitled,... Lot 43

TOSHIMITSU IMAI (Kyoto, 1928 - 2002) Untitled, 1992, from the "Suite Olympic Centennial". Silkscreen on 270 gsm Vélin d'Arches paper, copy 197/250. Signed, dated and justified by hand. Size: 63 x 90 cm. The Olympic Suite is composed of 50 lithographs and serigraphs chosen to represent various contemporary artistic trends. Published to commemorate the first centenary of modern Olympism, the artists chosen are defined by different pictorial movements and trends. Toshimitsu Imai trained at the Tokyo State Academy of Art and his early works show a strong influence of the intellectual and decorative treatment of colour already employed by the Fauves. Throughout his career he moved towards increasing formal synthetism and was one of the introducers of abstract art in Japan, although he never entirely abandoned figuration, to which he returned repeatedly at various points in his life, exploring the connection between the historical avant-garde and its contributions and traditional Japanese art.