Keiko Minami

Keiko Minami (南 桂子, Minami Keiko, 12 February 1911 – 1 December 2004[1]) was a Japanese artist, aquatint engraver, and poet.

Keiko Minami
Keiko Minami (right) & Yōzō Hamaguchi
Born(1911-02-12)12 February 1911
Toyama Prefecture, Japan
Died1 November 2004(2004-11-01) (aged 93)
Japan
NationalityJapanese
EducationSchool of Fine Arts Tokyo
Known forAquatint, engraving
Spouse(s)Yōzō Hamaguchi (1909-2000)

Biography

Keiko Minami was born in the Imizu District of Toyama Prefecture in 1911. She was orphaned at a young age and expressed an early interest in the arts. She painted and wrote poetry in high school, and studied the art of children's stories under the Japanese novelist and poet Sakae Tsuboi. She attended the School of Fine Arts Tokyo (東京美術学校), now called the Tokyo University of the Arts (東京藝術大学), from 1927 until 1929. Her artistic style was influenced by such artists as Paul Klee, Yōzō Hamaguchi, Johnny Friedlaender, Yoshio Mori, and Japanese print artists. After the war, Minami moved to Tokyo to create children's books, and it was there that she met her future husband, the mezzotint artist Yōzō Hamaguchi.[2] Minami and Hamaguchi moved to Paris in late 1953 where Minami began studying under Johnny Friedlaender, a pioneer in aquatint etching.[3] Soon after beginning her study of aquatint etching under Friedlaender, Minami sold one of her early works to the city of Paris.[4] In the late 1950s, Minami's works were reproduced and sold as greeting cards by both the Museum of Modern Art and UNICEF.[5] In 1959 she was named as an official artist of the United Nations. At this time Minami entered into an exclusive contract with German art dealer Heinz Berggruen. She moved to San Francisco with her husband in 1982 and eventually, in 1996, after forty years abroad, returned to Japan where she died in 2004.

Selected works
  • Arbre de la paix (1958)
  • Champs de printemps (1954)
  • Bergère (1957)
  • Lune (1954)
  • Mer (1955)
  • Trois sapins (1958)

Recurrent symbols in Minami's works
  • Young Girls[6]
  • Trees and Flowers
  • Fish
  • Dogs
  • Churches and Towers
  • Birds
  • Water and Bodies of Water
  • Mountains

Awards
  • Official artist of the United Nations: "Tree of Peace," 1959

Bibliography
  • Minami, Keiko. Bonheur. Tokyo: Little More,Japan

References
  1. "Minami Keiko". Kotobanku (in Japanese). Asahi Shinbun. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  2. Portland Art Museum. "Online Collections:Minami Keiko". Portland Art Museum. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  3. Portland Art Museum. "Online Collections: Lune (Moon)". Portland Art Museum. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  4. Portland Art Museum. "Breaking Barriers Japanese Women Print Artists 1950-2000" (PDF). Portland Art Museum. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. "U.N.'s YULE CARDS GO ON SALE AGAIN". The New York Times. August 17, 1958. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  6. http://search.artmuseums.go.jp/search_e/sakuhin_list.php?sakka=850
  • Keiko Minami Bio
  • Keiko Minami Bio
  • Keiko Minami Bio & Timeline
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