Shomei Tomatsu - A Constant Pursuit: Photographs from the Collection of Ed Cohen & Victoria Shaw New York Thursday, October 4, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2004

  • Literature

    Yale University Press, Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation, front cover, pls. 65-66

  • Catalogue Essay

    In a career spanning over fifty years, Japanese photographer Shomei Tomatsu used his camera to poetically examine the post-war evolution of his country. Beginning as a traditional photojournalist, Tomatsu progressed beyond standard reportage to a more expressionistic documentary style. The environmental and cultural devastation of Japan during World War II influenced Tomatsu’s photographic sensibility, prompting him to investigate the transformative effects the war and Western influence had on his country and people. It is Tomatsu’s distinct vision, as seen in lots 39-41, that has made him a touchstone of post-war Japanese photography, and has indelibly influenced the subsequent generation of Japanese photographers. The major retrospective of his work organized by the San Francisco Museum of Art in 2005, Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation, is largely responsible for introducing his work to the American audience.

41

Oshima Eiko, Actress, 1961 and Kabuki Stage Hand, Tokyo

1964
Gelatin silver print, printed 2003 and chromogenic print, printed 2004.
10 x 14 3/4 in. (25.4 x 37.5 cm)
15 7/8 x 12 in. (40.3 x 30.5 cm)

Each signed and dated in pencil or ink on the verso.

Estimate
$6,000 - 8,000 

Sold for $5,000

Contact Specialist
Caroline Deck
Head of Sale, Senior Specialist

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairman, Americas

General Enquiries
+1 212 940 1245

A Constant Pursuit: Photographs from the Collection of Ed Cohen & Victoria Shaw

New York Auction 4 October 2018