Tadashi Sugimata (杉全直)

Regarded as one of the most significant artists of the postwar Japanese avant-garde, Tadashi Sugimata (杉全 直) is named in Japanese art history as one of the country’s leading abstract painters of the postwar era. 

Born in 1914, Tokyo, the artist grew up in Himeji, Hyogo. He began oil painting in middle school and continued his studies further at the Tokyo Fine Arts School (current Tokyo University of the Arts). Although Sugimata began his career creating surrealist works, the Informel movement influenced his oeuvre, creating an aesthetic shift towards abstract expression. His most notable series, which began in the 1960s, was his Kikko (lit: Tortoiseshell) series, which resulted in him winning the Bridgestone Museum of Art Award.

He exhibited his works at numerous domestic and international exhibitions, i.e. the Venice and Sao Paulo Biennales, and is a recipient of numerous awards throughout his career. Respected for his many contributions to Japanese art, and he was further awarded the 31st Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 1981, and Orders of the Sacred Treasure in 1986. As a professor of Tama Art University and Tokyo University of the Arts, he was also a highly influential figure in the education of young artists. Throughout his career, Sugimata challenged and traversed the vast possibilities of art and used both, two-dimensional and three-dimensional mediums. He passed away in 1996, at the age of 82. 

For a list of works, see: https://www.artsy.net/rootkcontemporary/artist/tadashi-sugimata 

［Solo Exhibitions］

1951:, Takemiya Gallery, Tokyo

1952: Form Gallery, Tokyo

1960: “Sugimata Tadashi Exhibition” Pintura Japonesa Contemporanea, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (Organized by Takiguchi Shuzo)

1967: “Tadashi Sugimata Collage and Sketch”, No.7 Gallery, Tokyo

1982: Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo

1984: Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, Ware house 

1987: “Tadashi Sugimata”, Himeji City Museum of Art, Hyogo, O Art Museum, Tokyo

1989: Ueda Gallery, Tokyo

1993: UCP Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, UCP Decor Gallery, Tokyo

［Group Exhibitions］

1958: Exhibited at XI Premio Lissone, Italy, alongside Yoshishige Saito, Shiraga Kazuo, and others

1961: Exhibited at Ⅵ Bienal De Sao Paulo, Brazil, alongside Yoshishige Saito, Hisao Domoto, and others

1962: Exhibited at the 31st Biennale di Venezia, Italy

2019: Kashima Arts, Art Central 2019, Hong Kong

2020: √K Collection 2020, √K Contemporary, Tokyo

2021: √K Collection Summer 2021, √K Contemporary, Tokyo

2022: √K Collection Winter 2022, √K Contemporary, Tokyo

 

[Awards]

1939 Awarded the Dokuritsu Kyokai Award at the 9th Dokuritsu Exhibition Founded by the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai

1958 Awarded the Excellence Award at the 3rd Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan

1961 Won the Bridgestone Museum of Art Award at The Japan International Art Exhibition

1963 Won the Excellence Award at the 7th Japan International Art Exhibition

1981 Awarded The Education Minister’s Prize of Selected Art

1986 Received an Order of the Sacred Treasure

 

[Public Collections]

Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art (Tokyo)/ Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Tokyo)/The University Art Museum of Tokyo University of The Arts (Tokyo)/ Itabashi Art Museum (Tokyo) /O Art Museum (Tokyo) / Himeji City Museum of Art (Himeji) / Tomioka Art Museum, Ichiro Fukuzawa Museum (Gunma) / Niigata City Art Museum (Niigata) /Nishinomiya City Otani Memorial Art Museum(Hyogo) / Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art (Hyogo) / Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art(Kitakyushu) / Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (Aichi) / The World Children’s Art Museum in Okazaki(Aichi) / Kurashiki City Art Museum (Okayama) / Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima)/ Wakayama Museum of Modern Art (Wakayama) / Gifu Prefectural Museum of Fine Art (Gifu)