Three Japanese Painters in Paris (1950-1970)

Key Sato (1906-1978), Toshimitsu Imai (1928-2002) and Hisao Domoto (1928-2013) gave birth to a vibrant new style, blending Western oil painting techniques, known as yōga, and traditional Japanese painting, known as nihonga.

Steeped in Asian thought and calligraphy, these painters had been immersed in “abstraction” long before the West took hold of it and it became a major movement in twentieth-century painting.

Illustrated with works that are often previously unpublished, this book traces their history, from their arrival in France to their first exhibitions, and describes the decisive encounters with gallery owners, art critics and other major players in abstraction that made them recognised and admired artists during their lifetime.