Key Hiraga

Lot Description KEI HIRAGA (KEY HIRAGA, Japanese, 1936-2000) Untitled signed 'Key HiRaga' in English; dated '67' (lower right); signed 'KEY HIRAGA' in English; and dated '67' in English (on the reverse); signed and inscribed '5 HIRAGA T1.' in English (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm. (28 3/4 x 23 5/8 in.) Painted in 1967 Provenance Private Collection, Europe

KEI HIRAGA (KEY HIRAGA, 1936-2000) Night Cherry Blossoms in Koiso signed 'Key HiRaga' in English; dated '85' (lower right); signed,titled and dated in Japanese; signed 'Key HiRaga' in English; dated'85' (on the reverse of frame) acrylic on canvas 52.8 x 44.8 cm. (20 3/4 x 17 5/8 in.) Painted in 1985 'CHARISMA OF Japanese ART' in DPI Magazine, vol. 11, Taipei,Taiwan, January 2011 (illustrated, p. 91).

KEI HIRAGA (KEY HIRAGA, 1936-2000) Bone; & The Elegant Life of Mr. H Bone: signed 'Key HiRaga' in English; dated '82' (lower left);signed and titled in Japanese (on the reverse) The Elegant Life of Mr. H: signed 'Key HiRaga' in English; dated'72' (lower left) one oil on canvas; & one acrylic on canvas 52.8 x 44.8 cm. (20 3/4 x 17 5/8 in.); & 53x 45.6 cm. (20 7/8 x18 in.) (2) Painted in 1982 & 1972 (2) Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Key Hiraga: Composition with man and woman. Signed Key Hiraga 71. Watercolour, gouache and ink on paper. Sheet size 49,5 x 32,5 cm. Without frame. Key Hiraga, b. 1936, d. 2000 Composition with man and woman. Signed Key Hiraga 71. Watercolour, gouache and ink on paper. Sheet size 49,5 x 32,5 cm. Without frame.

KEI HIRAGA (KEY HIRAGA, 1936-2000) Endless Evening signed 'Key Hiraga' in English; dated '90' (lower right) acrylic on canvas 130.3 x 162.2 cm. (51 3/8 x 63 7/8 in.) Painted in 1990 one seal of the artist Provenance Acquired from the artist by the present owner Literature Gallery Toho, Kei Hiraga New Works Exhibition - Endless Night,exh. cat.,Tokyo, Japan, 8-27 October 1990 (illustrated,unpaged). Bokushin Gallery, Collected Paintings of Key Hiraga, Tokyo, Japan,2000 (illustrated, p. 161). '2009 Traveling in Art Taipei' in dpi magazine, Taipei, Taiwan,November 2009 (illustrated, pp. 21 & 27). Exhibited Tokyo, Japan, Bunkyo Art, Human Image, 29 June-11 July2009. Lot Notes Kei Hiraga spent much of the 1970s in Paris, living amongbohemian artists and gallerists in the exciting and bewildering asthe European painting world that differed so greatly to that ofJapan, literally shocking him into changing the direction of hiscreative processes. Forced into abandoning the white oil paints hefavoured in the 1960s, Kei Hiraga first employed acrylic paints andthrough a rigorous process of trial and error, eventually toneddown the "garish and raw" nature of the medium to his satisfaction.This discovery of acrylic paints helped Kei Hiraga articulate hisnewborn confidence as an artist and followed with abundantinvitations and acceptations to exhibit in Belgium, England,Holland and Italy, ultimately defining his identity as anartist. Audacious, visually electric and whimsical, the works of the 1970'sare equally a testament to Hiraga's baffled enchantment with theFrench joie de vie. While he loved the long evenings of drinking,he found that this severely limited his artistic productivity. Butwhen time allowed, Hiraga painted voraciously, using a vibrantcolour palette to render eccentric, sexually entangled figures asif in demonstration of his chaotic yet exhilarating life in France.Hiraga's tightly curated compositions also demonstrate hisunderstanding of the importance of figurative narrative inpaintings, citing that he "took a hint from Alfred Hitchcock'smovie Rear Window", comic strips and Picasso's Guernica (currentlyhoused in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid), as inspirationalsources of storytelling. Using the intertwined bodies dosed withphallic tubes and falling breasts to form the basis of the wondrousscene, Hiraga additionally injects emotional elements throughstriking colours, projecting the thrilling stimulation of hissenses during his early years in Europe. Upon his departure from France in the 1980s, Hiraga sought tocreate works with a greater Japanese flavour, having mentallyprepared to do so for years. As seen in Feast (Lot 1673) and OisoLong Beach (Lot 1517), thematic explorations of eating, teaceremonies and swimming are depictions of personally significantthemes to Hiraga but with a European flare. Lounging on Oiso beach,the pale white figures, painted for the first time in theirentirety, don kabuk make up and lounge as if on a nude friendlybeach in the south of France. The depiction of the beach and theoversized table in Feast show a transitional stage between thedecorative backgrounds of the 1970s work to the later moreintricate and inherently Japanese interiors of the 1990s. While theoverall impression of these two works conveys a sense of Easternculture, Hiraga's works are still heavily influenced by hisimpressions of France in colour and composition. It is perhaps in Endless Evening (Lot 1516) and Room with an OceanView (Lot 1518) that display the equilibrium of Hiraga's Japaneseupbringing and European cultivation. A repetitive, yet carefullyexecuted palette of non-representational colors, forms andproportions creates a unique and complex composition, overflowingwith miniscule and elaborate details. Hiraga careful use of goldcolour is reminiscence of Japan's famed gold screens and evokesnostalgia for the artistic traditions of decorative Edo periodscreens. Seated upon familiar tatami mats, the subjects in Roomwith an Ocean View sit in relative peace, admiring the seascape inthe same way Japanese do hana-mi. The seemingly drunken women inEndless Evening toppled over one another, flash their tattooed legsto the viewer in a partial show of strength. Such displays werevery familiar to Kei Hiraga from his early days spent assisting intattoo parlour in the entertainment district of Asakusa in Tokyowhere both men and women were tattooed. It is no coincidence thatHiraga's exuberant compositions filled with challenging andcolorful scenes of luscious women and mysterious men arefascinatingly oddly familiar, as the themes are playfulreinventions of locations and activities well known by many.Combing through three decades of Hiraga's candid works divulgedetails like chapters of his autobiography. We play witness to hismesmerizing artistic creations whose eccentric representation ofhis life is still so fresh and contemporary.