Lot 28: Keiko Minami O/C Painting, Girl with Bird

Keiko Minami (Japanese, 1911-2004) oil on canvas painting that depicts a girl shown from the waist up who looks directly toward the viewer and stands before a yellow and green bird. Blue and white dots set against a black field fill the background. Signed lower right. With Sennelier, Paris artist’s supplies store stamps to verso and stretcher. Housed in a rusticated painted and silvered wood frame with cream linen liner and gilt fillet. Canvas: 7 in. H x 5 1/2 in. W. Sight: 6 3/8 in. H x 4 5/8 in. W. Framed: 11 1/2 in. H x 10 in. W. Second half of 20th century. Note: The presence of the Sennelier, Paris stamps to verso and stretcher suggests that the present painting likely dates from the period between late 1953 and 1982, when the artist lived and worked in Paris. Biographical Note: “Keiko Minami, orphaned at a young age, expressed an early interest in the arts. She both painted and wrote poetry in high school, and studied the art of children’s stories under the Japanese novelist and poet Sakae Tsuboi. Her artistic style was influenced by such artists as Paul Klee, Hamaguchi Yozo, Johnny Friedlaender, Mori Yoshio, and Japanese print artists. After the war, Keiko moved to Tokyo to create children’s books, and it was there that she met her future husband, the mezzotint artist Hamaguchi Yozo. Keiko and Yozo moved to Paris in late 1953 where Keiko began studying under Johnny Friedlaender, a pioneer in aquatint etching. Soon after beginning her study of aquatint etching under Johnny Friedlaender, Keiko sold one of her early works to the city of Paris. In the late 1950s, Keiko’s works were reproduced and sold as greeting cards by both the Museum of Modern Art and UNICEF. In 1961, Heinz Berggruen, a dealer in modern prints known for his collection of 20th-century masterpieces, became Keiko’s exclusive art dealer.” (Source: minamikeiko.com)

PROVENANCE: Irene Sullivan Estate, Oak Ridge, TN descendant of the Callahan family of Knoxville, TN.

CONDITION: Painting in overall very good condition, not examined out of frame. Liner with faint dampstaining.