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KAZUMASA NAGAI (1929- )
298
●
A.M. CASSANDRE / TOKYO METROPOLITAN TEIEN ART MUSEUM. 1991.
40
1
/
2
x28
1
/
2
inches, 103x72
1
/
2
cm.
Condition A: minor creases at edges. Paper.
Nagai is one of the giants of 20th Century Japanese graphic design, along with Ikko Tanaka, Yusaku
Kamekura and Shigeo Fukuda. He helped to found the Nippon Design center, is a former President
of JAGDA (the Japanese Graphic Design Association) and has won numerous awards and medals for
his work within the graphic arts. In his lofty position within the world of Japanese graphic design, he
would have been free to follow his own inspiration when designing posters, as is evident here.
Advertising the first large exhibition of works by A.M. Cassandre in Tokyo, Nagai chooses to represent
one of the grotesque little animals that populate his own work during this period. The creature is
carrying a miniature version of one of Cassandre's posters, in some respect seemingly downplaying the
very work which is being advertised. It is an inspired and unique treatment of an exhibition poster.
As a counterpoint, it should be noted that for a subsequent Cassandre exhibition, at the Suntory
Museum in 1995, a younger Japanese Graphic designer Kamijo employed a montage of different
Cassandre posters.
[400/600]
MASANARI MURAI (1905-1999)
299
●
JAPANESE PRINTS OF TODAY / THE NEW YORK CULTURAL CENTER. 1973.
43x31 inches, 109
1
/
4
x78
3
/
4
cm.
Condition A / A-: minor creases at edges and in image; small paper insert in lower text. Silkscreen. Paper.
Murai learned about abstract art while living in Paris for four years after finishing his studies in 1928.
Upon his return to Japan, he became a pioneer of Modernist painting and was a leader in the
promotion and exhibition of abstract art. He donated the bulk of his work to the Setagaya Museum,
and his former studio is now a museum in its own right.
[400/600]
298
299