Gouache on paper

45.1 x 37.3 cm. 17 3/4 x 14 5/8 in.

Note：This work is accompanied by a certificate of registration provided by Yoshihara Jiro's Registration Committee.

Yoshihara Jiro
“When materials remain intact and reveal their own characteristics,they begin to tell stories,even yell out.”
－Yoshihara Jiro
Yoshihara Jiro founded Gutai Art Association in 1954 and won him international acclaim. In the recent years,both Museum of Modern Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York held Gutai Art retrospective exhibitions,such as Tokyo 1955-1970：A New Avant-Garde and Gutai：Splendid Playground. His later works,the Circle series received worldwide recognition,however,little was known that the artist studied European art in particular,Abstraction and Surrealism in 1920s.
Circle is Jiro’s artistic advocacy,spiritual symbol and individual icon. In his statement for Gutai Art Movement,he mentioned that “Gutai Art is not distorting the nature of materials,but rejuvenate materials…in Gutai Art,there is a distance between human spirituality and materiality.”
Untitled presented in this auction is typical of his artistic style in his later years,concentrating on the presentation of the theme of circle. Seemingly accomplished in one single brush,his work is in fact cautiously calculated in terms of the proportion of white and black. The poetic characters of his work are closely tied to calligraphy,while exceeding the constraints of it. Through the representation of circles,a symbol full of Oriental context,Jiro integrates the spontaneity of abstract expressionism and Japanese Zen touches,forming his unique art approach.
Jiro was first attracted to the works of Joan Miro and Giorgio de Chirico and the present lot,Miro,was his way of paying tribute to the Surrealist master. The work is created by mixed media,for example cardboards and stickers,of which is echoing Miro’s exploration in different medium. Jiro deploys the Miro’s expressive yellow at the background. At the left side,two shadow figures are pieced together creating a visual effect of backlighting while at the right side the artist depicts several geometric forms as if outlining an alien. The distorted oval shape reminds a single-eye head meanwhile a special propositional cross resembles the body. The strokes at the lower right corner of the cross suggest the light source from the upper left corner which coincides with the shadows at the left. Revitalizing the convention meaning of a cross in the west,the artist reconstructs its implication and explores a new artistic language. Aspired after the artful composition,Jiro’s works receive recognition around the world.

Price estimate:
HKD：250,000 - 300,000
USD：32,300 - 38,700

Auction Result:
HKD: --