Onchi Kōshirō 恩地孝四郎

[ABSTRACT OIL PAINTING]

1919. Item #90566

Onchi Kōshirō 恩地孝四郎. [Abstract Oil Painting]. Oil painting approx 41 x 32 cm in image size, an abstract(ish) still life with an apple, done while Onchi was quite young in about 1919. It is signed by him and is quite unusual in its embrace of abstraction (with a hint of the very influential Mr. Cezanne). Not for the fact of the abstract image itself, but rather for the medium. Oil paintings by Onchi are by no means common as he largely abandoned the medium by the 20s. Nor are his abstractions unknown, as he frequently created woodblock prints in an abstract mode and is, indeed, credited with the first fully abstract print in Japan [AKARUI TOKI] which appeared in his TSUKUHAE magazine number V in 1915. Nor is Cezanne's influence on the Japanese art world through his still lifes unknown, either. But this painting, combining oil and abstraction and a bit of Cezanne, makes for a remarkable piece, both historically and aesthetically.

Price: $22,500.00