Katsumi Nakai Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1927 -

Katsumi Nakai (1927-2013 Hirakata, Osaka, Japan) studied painting at the Institute of Fine Arts Osaka, Japan, and was already active in the Japanese art scene with several successful shows in his native land when he moved to Milan in 1964. This period in Milan was one of the most stimulating and defining moments in contemporary art history, which further developed Nakai’s remarkable oeuvre and unique point of view.


Ronchini Gallery is proud to present the first UK solo exhibition of Japanese artist Katsumi Nakai. With works spanning from the 1960’s to 2012 this exhibition presents a comprehensive overview of this critical figure whose artistic achievements have yet to be fully appreciated on a grand scale.

Nakai’s multi-coloured wooden structures probe the pictorial surface and its levels of dimensionality, which are delicately raised and projected into the viewer’s space. In this sense, Nakai’s work exceeds the limits of the flat canvas, by staging an interplay between outward projections, form, and volumes.

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    • Katsumi Nakai, (Japanese/act. Milan, Italy, 1927-2013), "Oggetto"
      Oct. 14, 2023

      Katsumi Nakai, (Japanese/act. Milan, Italy, 1927-2013), "Oggetto"

      Est: $1,200 - $1,800

      Katsumi Nakai (Japanese/act. Milan, Italy, 1927-2013) "Oggetto" mixed media signed en verso, affixed with "Galleria D'Arte Del Naviglio, Milan, Italy" label. closed: 39" x 32", open: 74" x 32" Provenance: Galleria D'Arte del Naviglio, Milan, Italy, 1972; Estate of Thomas B. Lemann, New Orleans, Louisiana. Notes: Japanese visual artist Katsumi Nakai was one of the seven founding artists of the avant-garde group of abstract and informal art, Tekkeikai, active until the mid-1960s. In 1964, Nakai left Japan for Europe and ended up settling in Milan for the next several decades, returning to his home country in 1996. He was attracted to the "New Milanese School" and one of its most notable members, Luciano Fontana, fascinated by Fontana's idea of Spatialism: the concept of time and space as a part of canvas. Nakai held his first solo exhibition at the Galleria del Cavallino in Venice in 1965, as well as multiple exhibitions at Galleria del Naviglio, Milan which is where this work was exhibited and acquired. "Oggetto", a prime example of the work he created in Italy, is a multi-colored wooden aperture which plays with pictorial surfaces, form, volume and exceeds the limits of the flat canvas. The painted, hinged planes take on sculptural dimensions, asking the audience to visually manipulate the work. Nakai's work is a crossroads between Eastern and Western artistic traditions, calling to mind Japanese origami as well as the shaped canvases of Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella. Guido Ballo, the Milanese art critic called Nakai's works "Pictorial Object", describing its existence between sculpture and two-dimensional paintings.

      New Orleans Auction Galleries
    • Katsumi Nakai Senza titolo
      Dec. 14, 2022

      Katsumi Nakai Senza titolo

      Est: €800 - €1,200

      Katsumi Nakai Senza titolo Signature, date and numbering under the base "Nakai '72, 2/10". Collezione Getulio Alviani e Angioletta Brollo, Udine cm 28,5x25x31 1972

      Casa d'aste ARCADIA
    • KATSUMI NAKAI, Untitled
      Sep. 08, 2022

      KATSUMI NAKAI, Untitled

      Est: €500 - €1,000

      KATSUMI NAKAI (1927 - 2013) Untitled 1965 Oil and applications on canvas 100 x 70 cm Signed and dated on the reverse PROVENANCE: Private collection, Pavia

      Art-Rite
    • KATSUMI NAKAI, Untitled
      Mar. 04, 2022

      KATSUMI NAKAI, Untitled

      Est: €500 - €1,000

      KATSUMI NAKAI (1927 - 2013) Untitled Mixed media on canvas 69 x 49 cm Signed lower right PROVENANCE: Private collection, Milan

      Art-Rite
    • NAKAI KATSUMI
      Apr. 20, 2021

      NAKAI KATSUMI

      Est: €5,000 - €6,000

      KATSUMI NAKAI (1927-2013) One plus three 1965 olio su tela cm 40x25 firmato e datato sul retro sul retro: etichetta e timbro della Galleria d'Arte del Naviglio Milano provenienza: già Collezione Giovanni Arpino Torino One plus three 1965 oil on canvas 15 74x9 84 in signed and dated on the reverse on the reverse: label and stamp of Galleria d'Arte del Naviglio Milan provenance: former Giovanni Arpino collection Turin

      Aste Boetto SRL
    • Katsumi Nakai (1927), Oggetto n.67-2, 1967
      May. 08, 2018

      Katsumi Nakai (1927), Oggetto n.67-2, 1967

      Est: €500 - €700

      wood and paint, cm 32x18 signed and dated on the back Label on the back of Galleria d'Arte del Naviglio, Milano

      Cambi Casa d'Aste
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