Kikuo Saito - Modern & Contemporary Art New York Wednesday, July 17, 2024 | Phillips
  • Kikuo Saito’s Cherokee, painted in 1980, is a stunning expanse of vermillion punctuated by a burst of color. Rivulets of green, pink, crimson, blue and brown stream outwards from the white starburst of exposed canvas at the center of the work. Furrows of impasto lend the canvas a textural interest, while the abstraction of the work calls to mind stained glass formations, or the view through a kaleidoscope. The overall impression of the work is immediately striking; as Martina Batovic has said, “Saito’s work presents the best of gestural and lyrical abstraction.”i

     

    A Japanese-born American artist, Saito arrived in the US in 1966 at the age of 27, bringing with him a solid grasp of both modern Western and traditional Japanese art. In doing so, Saito established a unique space for himself within the already-established Color Field tradition by constructing his own painterly lexicon – further informed by his relationships with artists Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland and Larry Poons, who he all formerly assisted.

     

     Kenneth Noland, Burnt Day, 1962, Private Collection. Image: © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images, Artwork: © The Paige Rense Noland Marital Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

    While he would come to be remembered primarily for his abstract paintings, much of the artist’s life was devoted to experimental theater. In the 60s, he would design sets and organize performances at the celebrated La Mama Experimental Theatre Club on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, blending aspects of the Japanese avant-garde with his own pared-down aesthetic. While the meaning behind the title Cherokee is unclear, one could speculate that it may have been the title of one of these performances.

     

    In 1976, Saito was the subject of his first solo exhibition at Deitcher O’Reilley Gallery on 67th Street; subsequently in 1979, Saito decided to devote his attention entirely to painting – which ultimately led to a 17-year break from his theater practice. Painted at the beginning of his burgeoning critical success, Cherokee is a superb example of the abstract works that Saito produced during this critical 17-year juncture – which, although created in isolation of his theater pursuits, still bears a gestural and expressive sensibility which harkens back to his theatrical roots.

     

    i Martina Batovic, quoted in “AbEx Pioneer Kikuo Saito Achieves a New Record in Artnet’s Post-War Abstraction Sale,” Artnet Auctions, March 25, 2024, online.

    • Provenance

      Suzanne Mathews, San Antonio
      Private Collection (acquired from the above in 2005)
      Thence by descent to the present owner

Property from a Private Collection, Texas

17

Cherokee

signed, titled and dated ""Cherokee" 1980 Kikuo Saito" on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
58 1/8 x 91 1/4 in. (147.6 x 231.8 cm)
Painted in 1980.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$30,000 - 40,000 

Sold for $57,150

Contact Specialist

Nina Piro
Specialist, Associate Vice President
npiro@phillips.com
646-647-5387
 

Modern & Contemporary Art

New York Auction 17 July 2024