Description: Artist: MATSUMI KANEMITSU (Japanese/American, 1922-1992)Title: "Night" 1961Medium: Original Lithograph in three (3) Colors from stone on Arches Cover paperSignature: Hand-Signed by the Artist and Dated " `61" in Pencil, LREdition: RARE Proof and designated "Bon A Tirer" (meaning "good to print") designating that the Artist is happy with the quality of the impression so that this impression with the "Bon A Tirer" designation as a measure for all subsequent impressions/printing of this particular image. Edition reference notes from Tamarind: Edition of 18 (Indicates vertical presentation: Ed 1-9/18, 9 TI), 9 TI (BFK), BAT, 3 APSize: Sheet: 30 1/8 × 22 1/4 inches (76.2 × 56.52 cm) Image: 30 1/8 × 22 1/8 inches (71.12 × 50.8 cm) (sheet)Printer: Joe Funk, Serge Lozingot and Bohuslav Horák, Tamarind Master Printers, with their blind/chop markPublisher: Tamarind Lithography Studio Workshop, with the Tamarind blind/chop markTamarind No.: 230 Notes: Included in the exhibition "Kanemitsu in California During the 1960s and 1970s" at LACMA [Los Angeles County Museum of Art] in 2008, examining the impact of Mike Kanemitsu and other Asian-American artists of the 20th century in the Contemporary art scene of the late 20th century.Note: This particular was featured in the documentary film titled - "Four Stones for Kanemitsu," a 1974 documentary film nominated for an Academy Award. Tamarind founder and doyenne of lithographic art, June Wayne, produced the short film, spoke of Kanemitsu and lithography at the screening. Here is more on the documentary: "Wayne's film follows the creation of one of Kanemitsu's images in her workshop, with the artist in collaboration with master printmaker Serge Lozingot. The process is astonishingly complex and delicate, starting with a brawny cleansing preparation of the template-a large, heavy, flat slab of limestone-to the original painting created by the artist, to the mixing of the four colors applied to the four stone templates, to the precise measurements of acid preparation of the stones, to the actual "striking" process four times on the paper. Kanemitsu and Lozingot kept a running commentary throughout the filmed process, with Lozingot noting that "the printmakers are as much an artist of the piece of art as the artist himself. At one point Kanemitsu was depressed because the color mix didn't come out right the first time. But then I tried so many colors, I began to like them all, so I was depressed about which one to choose," he said in the film. Having settled upon the "Bon à Tirer" (or "good to pull," the final image the artist chooses to reproduce), the team methodically sponges, inks and presses the paper to mathematical exactness before final approval and stamp of the artist. "Tamarind only strikes 20 pieces of an image. This way, we control the number of prints available and the sales price that will sustain an art market," Wayne said. "It also helps to keep the artists and printmakers from getting bored." Provenance: UCLA; Hatay Stratton Fine ArtAbout the Artist: Despite his Japanese name and heritage, Matsumi Kanemitsu was "one hundred percent American," having been born in Utah in 1922, Curator Yoshida said, and was one of the darlings of the New York art scene in the 50s through 70s, along with painters such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Franz Kline. "He used to go drinking with Jackson Pollack [the famous "drip" artist of post-World War II Abstract Expressionism]," Yoshida explained. "Pollack gave him the American name 'Mike.' It's always amazed me that Kanemitsu is never hung in museums along with Rothko and Pollack, and the others, since he was such a part of that movement. But perhaps there is a hint of 20th century racism. Kanemitsu is seen as an exotic 'Asian' artist." Today, there is a reexamination of the work of Kanemitsu and his influence on the art of lithography.
Price: 1250 USD
Location: Indio, California
End Time: 2024-12-03T05:21:58.000Z
Shipping Cost: 29.95 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Size: Medium (up to 36in.)
Artist: MATSUMI KANEMITSU (Japanese/American, 1922-1992)
Production Technique: Color Lithograph
Style: Abstract
Material: Lithograph
Type: S/N Limited Edition Print
Features: Tamarind Lithography Chop, RARE Proof and designated "Bon A Tirer", Documentary "Four Stones for Kanemitsu" 1974, Signed, Limited Edition, Numbered
Subject: Abstract
Signed: Yes
Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
Year of Production: 1961
Unit of Sale: Single-Piece Work
Width (Inches): @31
Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
Height (Inches): @23
Print Surface: Arches Wove Paper
Date of Creation: 1950-1969
Color: Black Blue Gray
