Photo: HIRO GALLERY

An exhibition of Osuke Shimazaki, an aloof painter, is going to be held at HIRO GALLERY from Feb. 22nd [Mon.] to Mar. 13th [Sat.] 2010.


Osuke Shimazaki was born in 1908 as the third son of Toson Shimazaki, a great literally figure. But when he was 2 years old his mother died and he was separated from Toson. Then he was brought up by his relatives in Kiso-Fukushima, Nagano prefecture. He went back to Toson when he was 13 years old, and began to go to the Kawabata Art School with his brother, Keiji. But the two went through totally opposite paths in their lives. The elder brother Keiji studied abroad in France, then debuted at the art world from his early days and became a popular artist. On the contrary, the younger brother Osuke was devoted to the proletarian art movement of the avant-garde art movement, then went to Germany, and immersed himself in the art movement related to Bauhaus with Koreya Senda and others. He drew the battlefield in China during the war, and compiled the complete collection of Toson Shimazaki after the war. That is why his achievements as a painter had not been made public until 1970.


After the compilation of the complete collection of Toson in 1970, he visited Germany again and painted about 30 pieces of sepia paintings. He made a persistent study of art on his "Note," the notebooks that reached 164 volumes from 1947 to the end of his life. This sepia expression can be said the culmination of his career as a painter.


Osuke called the sepia "the color of solitude." Throughout his life, he continually faced something that cannot be ignored such as family, society and art. The sepia is the color he chose to represent his own expression. Osuke's art theory, spirit and life that should be called his self-portrait are put together on the surface only depicted by "light and darkness" of sepia. On his paintings, we can find tenderness in cruelty and hope in darkness.


In this exhibition, about 10 pieces of precious oil paintings and drawings from the 30 works made in Germany, 1970. We sincerely hope that you come and enjoy this special show.