Lot 3238
Kikuo Saito (Japanese American, 1939-2016), Egyptian Curtain
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
51 1/4 x 42 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 52 1/2 x 43 3/4 in.
From the Collection of Art Chansky, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Salander-O'Reilly Gallery, New York
Kikuo Saito was a Japanese American painter, theater artist, and educator best known for his vibrant abstract paintings that bridge Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction. Born in Tokyo, Saito moved to New York in 1966, where he worked as a studio assistant to Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, and Larry Poons before developing his own distinctive visual language. His paintings combine luminous fields of color with gestural brushwork and calligraphic line, reflecting the influence of both Japanese aesthetics and the energy of the New York avant-garde. Alongside his painting practice, Saito enjoyed an acclaimed career in experimental theater, collaborating with directors and choreographers including Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, Jerome Robbins, and Eva Maier.
In 1996, Saito served as artist in residence at Duke University, where he created the interdisciplinary performance Toy Garden with choreographer Eva Maier, presenting the work at the Duke University Museum of Art before it traveled to New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre. The residency further strengthened his connection to North Carolina, and Duke would remain an important venue for his work. Saito later taught painting at the Art Students League of New York, and his work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and numerous other public and private collections.
Good estate condition, some craquelure at right stretched edge, very stable.
