Oil on canvas

73 × 91 cm. 28 3/4 x 35 7/8 in.

Signed in English and Chinese, dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by artist's relative

Primitive Worship and the Bloom of Life
In the 1950s, French art critic Michel Tapié vigorously promoted the “Art informel” movement in Europe. This artistic style had no set composition or theme, but rather adopted an improvisational creative methodology to express subconscious ideas. Moreover, the freedom and vitality of this pioneering style had a major influence on Toshimitsu Imai who moved to Paris in 1952, and spent the 1960s and 1970s exploring the different expressive forms of Art informel. In the 1960s, Toshimitsu first splashed thick colors on his canvases, giving voice to an explosion of powerful emotion and energy. From the 1970s-1980s, he attached more importance to the flow of lines, expressing abstract shapes through consummate monochrome and flowing lines while also creating interconnections between the lines. The work being auctioned on this occasion, Floraison, is composed of rich colors that are not overly thick and lines that flow freely but are not entirely detached from representation. Indeed, this painting is an excellent example of Toshimitsu’s work during the transition period of his artistic style in the 1970s.
In the 1970s, Toshimitsu Imai often used flowing, round monochrome curved lines in his paintings. To achieve this he first painted layers of colors on the canvas and then used a painting knife and other tools to spread the paint and create a three dimensional feel. In this work, the artist expresses his dissatisfaction with such lines, creating a triangular structure mainly made up of red, yellow and blue, with other colors forming an overlay outline that deepens the flow and diversity and is imbued with a rich sense of rhythm and life energy. In Floraison Toshimitsu showcases representational expression through abstraction, the flow of color and lines introducing multifarious changes to the work as he depicts the overlapping layers of flower petals unfolding and the eternal life force of their blooming.
Human knowledge and depiction of things originates in lines and their repetition or accumulation expresses the depth of our understanding. The paintings of Toshimitsu Imai express a primitive worship of nature and life, using the simplest lines and colors to showcase organic life energy and thereby touching on our primal understanding of nature, which explains why his paintings resonate so deeply with viewers.

Price estimate:
HKD: 150,000 - 200,000
USD: 19,200 - 25,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 259,600