"Be Through" by Toko Shinoda.  Color lithograph on Arches, excellent condition-archivally matted and framed, (22 1/4in H x 33 3/8in W image, 33in H x 44in W framed) Signed,titled and numbered 14/15in pencil, lower left.  Very good, dark impression of this scarce print.  This large print makes a striking statement in any setting.  Inspired by Japan’s rich tradition of calligraphy, Shinoda works in a calligraphic style but moves beyond writing into a world all her own. Her sumi and color pigments slash across the painting’s surface, carving out a landscape inhabited by both warrior and poet.

 

Shinoda began creating abstract work in 1947. A two-year stay in New York in the 1950s introduced her to the work of abstract expressionists and inspired her to go beyond the traditional boundaries of controlled calligraphy and use expansive, dynamic brush strokes.

 

Shinoda was the focus of a feature in Time Magazine Aug. 1, 1983 and, in 1996, became the first Japanese artist to have the honor of having a retrospective of her paintings and lithographs in the Singapore Art Museum. She was also named a Japanese National Treasure.  Today, Shinoda’s works reside in numerous permanent collections worldwide including the Rockefeller, Guggenheim, the Brooklyn Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Yale University Art Gallery and the Tokyo National Museum of Art. Her work has been exhibited at MOMA and other museums and galleries in New York, Boston, Paris, Washington and Brussels.