May 05, 2011 - Sale 2246

Sale 2246 - Lot 203

Price Realized: $ 1,020
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
KIYOSHI AWAZU (1929-2009) DOUBLE SUICIDE AT NO AMIJIMA. 1969.
40 1/2x 28 3/4 inches, 103x73 cm.
Condition B+: repaired tears and restoration at edges; pin-holes in corners. Silkscreen.
"Legendary Japanese graphic designer . . . Awazu was consistently considered among the upper echelon of Japanese graphic designers throughout his career, which began in the years following World War II " (Tokyo Reporter, May 10, 2009). In his early career he designed many movie posters but by the mid 1950s had branched out into many other areas. His bright and eye-catching work draws its style largely from pop-culture. He was a multi-talented artist, who also worked in film, urban design and theatre. He was the Art Director on the film Double Suicide at Tenno-Amijima for which he won a Japanese Academy Award. In addition, this poster for the film won the Silver Prize and the International Poster Biennial Exhibit in Warsaw, Poland in 1970.