Known as the “Godfather of Japanese Erotica,” Toshio Saeki garnered a reputation as one of the most important underground artists in postwar Japan. Beginning in the 1970s and continuing until his death in 2020, Saeki explored emotions of fear, anxiety and uncertainty through an alchemic synthesis of gory, sexual and paranormal motifs. Saeki subverted the traditional method of Japanese woodcut prints, known as ukiyo-e, in which an ‘eshi’ or artist draws an image while the ‘surishi’ or printer handles the production. Rather than adding color directly to his sketches, Saeki would use paper vellum overlays, on which he would trace over elements of the image with his desired colors before sending them to the surishi. He dubbed this method chinto printing.
“I always try to put into shape the domain that is hidden deep inside the heart that cannot be described by words. I want to wake up the sensibilities that are kept quiet and sleeping inside a person.”
—Toshio SaekiThe present lot consists of seven of these sketches, each with a lower sheet depicting Saeki's original designs, and an upper sheet of vellum showing the artist’s color-blocking. These examples include written keys by the artist indicating the desired ratios of color to be used for printing, offering viewers a material glimpse into the machinations of the artist’s unique creative process and serving as totemic reminders of Saeki’s adaptation of a traditional Japanese artform.
The ethos of Saeki’s grotesque, violent and often sexual compositions is inspired by an array of sources including Japanese folklore and Yakuza films. However, the majority of his imagery is taken from a collection of ideas derived from his own dreams and visions – something he refers to as a "stock of memorable images."i For Saeki, the hallucinatory and the heinous functioned as conduits for expressing the raw emotion that underscores the subconscious. With his deeply personal inspirations, the artist considered his works to be extensions of his own being, stating, "If the reality hidden in my soul–even if it is only the smallest fragment of it–is able to evoke something in the viewer, then my intention has been achieved."ii
"Leave other people to draw seemingly beautiful flowers that bloom within a nice, pleasant-looking scenery. I try instead to capture the vivid flowers that sometimes hid and sometimes grow within a shameless, immoral and horrifying dream.”
—Toshio Saeki
