ONOGI, GAKU (1924-1976)

“Landscape X.S.” (c.1968)
Limited edition screenprint, ed.6/15
57 x 57cm
Signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney
 
Onogi was a leading, award-winning Japanese Printmaker. The recipient of numerous prizes including the Shell Art Prize, this self-taught artist left behind a significant body of work that ranges from pastel drawings to watercolors and oil paintings. He had solo exhibitions at The Nagoya City Art Museum & Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. He also exhibited at the Jiyubujutsu Exhibition, Mainichi Modern Art Exhibition, Asahi Exhibition Of Modern Art, and International Print Biennale. A retrospective exhibition in 2009 showed 70 works that were produced while the artist was hospital bound. He tragically and prematurely died at age 52 at the height of his popularity. His work is represented at the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo (MOMAT), British Museum in London & the Mie Prefectural Art Museum. A master printmaker, revered in Japan and abroad, his original pieces are unbelievably rare, only a few have ever been available on the secondary market and demand huge prices.