ONENESS OF PAPER
1971
torn japanese washi paper on cardboard
28 1/8 x 18 1/8 inches

One of the most important artists working in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s, Jiro Takamatsu has pursued a number of disciplines, among them sculpture, photography, painting and drawing. In 1963, Takamatsu formed the Hi Red Center collective with two other artists, and later he was a key figure in the Mono-Ha (“School of Things”) movement. Over the years Takamatsu’s work has incorporated elements of Dada, Surrealism and Minimalism, and he moved freely between formal and conceptual artistic investigations. In Oneness of Paper, Takamatsu has carefully torn pieces out of the center of a sheet washi paper – a traditional Japanese paper made from the long inner fibers of plants. Takamatsu then placed them back in their original location, though the broken paper fibers now show evidence of their transformed state. In this work, Takamatsu, like many artists of this era, sought not to create a wholly new object, but to reveal the inherent properties of the material itself. A subtle work, Takamatsu’s piece offers a meditation on materiality, presence and time. Takamatsu represented Japan at the 1968 Venice Biennale where he won the Carlo Cardazzo Prize. Numerous retrospectives of his work include those at the National Museum of Modern Art, Osaka (1999); the Chiba City Museum of Art (2000); the Fuchu Art Museum, Tokyo; and Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Fukuoka (2004).

estimated retail value:  $25,000

opening bid:  $17,500

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