Page 26 - Christies Japanese and Korean Art Sept 22 2020 NYC

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SHINODA TOKO (B. 1913)
Sound (Oto)
Sealed To, signed Shinoda Toko and titled on the reverse
sumi-ink on platinum leaf
28√ x 22 in. (73.3 x 56 cm.)
$35,000-45,000

Toko Shinoda's body of work has achieved the ultimate status of
refinement and delicacy through the virtuosity of her wrist and her
masterful use of ink. At the age of 104 years old, she continues to
produce beautiful ink compositions for the world to admire. Born
in 1913 in Dalian, Manchuria, Toko Shinoda moved to Japan with
her family when she was still a young child. She learned calligraphy
at a very early age, under her father's initiative, who himself had
received an artistic teaching from his uncle, a famous seal-cutter,
well versed in calligraphy and Chinese poetry. She moved to Tokyo
before World War II to study traditional calligraphy and held her
first solo exhibition just before the war.

Her brief two-year visit to the USA in the late 1950's was a
turning point in her work as she discovered abstract expressionism.
She realized she could step outside the boundaries set by the
rigidity of traditional calligraphy and create new forms from a
wide spectrum of ink lines. Since her return to Japan, Shinoda has
accumulated formal recognition through the acquisition of her
works for public and prestigious spaces, increasing her national
and international visibility.

Portrait of the artist
Photo © Kiyo Fukuda, the Tolman Collection