Lot 10: Masaaki Yamada (1929-2010) Work C.379

Masaaki Yamada (1929-2010)
Work C.379
1968-69

signed, dated 1968-69 in both English and Japanese, and affixed with two artist labels on the reverse
oil on canvas

130.3 x 89.4 cm (51 5/16 x 35 3/16 in)
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We are grateful to the Estate of Yamada Masaaki for confirming the cataloguing of the present work.
Provenance
The Artist Collection, JapanM. Art, JapanAcquired directly from the above by the present owner
Literature
MASAAKI YAMADA, Paintings 1950 - 1980, Masaaki Yamada Gashyu Kanko-kai, Tokyo 1981, p. 46, illustrated in color
山田正亮
作品C.379油彩畫布1968-69年作
背面簽名：山田正亮 一九六八年十一月 六九年背面附兩張藝術家標籤
我們由衷感謝山田正亮遺產管理委員會確認此拍品資料
來源
藝術家收藏，日本M. Art，日本現藏家購自上述來源
出版
《山田正亮 繪畫1950-1980》，山田正亮畫集刊行會，東京1981年，第46頁，彩圖
Beginning his artistic career in 1949 following the horrors of World War II, Masaaki Yamada developed his artistic skills in search for direction and control amidst the chaos of post-war Japan. For over half a century, he devoted himself entirely to art. For Yamada, the creative process was all consuming: 'I have to keep working. I have entered into a contract with painting' (the artist in: Kazuo Nakabayashi Ed., Endless: The Paintings of Yamada Masaaki, Tokyo, 2016, title page). Repetition, precision, and basic components of lines and colors are central to his oeuvre.
Yamada's work is generally split into three distinct groups: Still-life, Work and Colour. Presented here is a work from his second and longest period, which stretched from 1956 until 1997, and is recognized as the core of his career. Through even applications of paint, Yamada renders his works with a strong philosophical approach, carried through with an intellectual, meditative and repetitive continuous working process that valued high volume production. Through his methodology, his entire artistic oeuvre can be read as one meta-painting, with each work representing a singular moment in the process.
Executed in 1968-69, Work C.379 reveals a nuance of texture and brushstroke layered through Yamada's rhythmic repetition. At the first glance, the work seems almost mechanical with its simple palette of two to three colors, but closer inspection reveals multiple variations of tones that pulse with an inner power, conveying a sense of spirituality, balance and coherence, which sits at the core of Yamada's lifelong dedication to art. Embodying a point in Japanese history of art, Yamada's works remain hugely influential in the art historical canon while maintaining enthralling and contemporary today.
山田正亮的藝術生涯始於世界二次大戰結束後的一九四九年，在當時日本混亂的戰後環境之中，展開對藝術方向和規律性的追尋之旅。超過半個世紀以來，山田正亮在創作上努力不懈，對他而言創作&... For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website