Key Hiraga (Japanese, 1936-2000), 平賀敬
Girl Embracing a Butterfly 1961 signed and dated 61 in English; signed and titled in Japanese on the reverseoil on canvas116 x 91 cm (45 11/16 x 35 13/16 in)
注脚
ProvenanceCollection of the Artist, JapanPrivate Collection, Japan (by descent from the above)Acquired directly from the above by the present ownerExhibitedKanagawa, The Hiratsuka Museum of Art, The Avantgarde Pop Art by Key Hiraga, the Contemporary Painter, 2000, p. 18, no. 1, illustrated in colourNew York, Bonhams, The Spirit of Burai: The Life and Times of Key Hiraga, 2018, p. 13, no. 18, illustrated in colour (also illustrated on the catalogue cover)LiteratureParis Burai - Collected Paintings of Key Hiraga, Tokyo 2000, p. 53, illustrated in colour平賀敬擁抱蝴蝶的女孩油彩畫布1961年作簽名:Key Hiraga 61背面簽名:東京都板橋区志村町1-4, 平賀敬,擁抱蝴蝶的女孩來源藝術家收藏(日本)日本私人收藏(得自上述收藏)現藏家直接購自上述收藏展覽「當代藝術家平賀敬 - 前衛波普藝術」,平塚市美術館,2000年,第18頁,編號1,彩圖「無賴派之精神:平賀敬的生活和時代」,紐約邦瀚斯藝術廊,2018年,封面、第13頁,編號18,彩圖出版《巴黎無賴派 - 平賀敬作品集》,東京,2000年,第53頁,彩圖Key Hiraga is one of the most compelling artists to emerge from Post-War Japan. With a distinct style, surreal yet figurative, strange yet delicate, his unique vision delivers works that are enthralling and truly singular in their approach. Whilst Girl Embracing a Butterfly captures the influence of Hiraga's youth in Post-War Japan, it also draws comparisons with European trends of the period, notably the work of Jean Dubuffet. Here he employs thick, tactile layers reminiscent of the shikkui plaster technique that was used in Japanese construction methods for centuries. From its monochromatic, heavily built-up surface a butterfly and figure emerge, where one ends and the other begins remains a mystery, and despite the subject matter being conventionally beautiful, the rough, reworked surface speaks to the remaining trauma that Japan continued to reckon with during this period. The butterfly, an important symbol in Japanese culture, alludes to transformation and change and the hypnotic ambiguity between the figure and the insect further emphasises this. Meanwhile, the thick, almost organic texture of the work parallels Dubuffet's use of unconventional, sometimes natural materials, which he would carve and sculpt to create paintings that fundamentally question the prevailing theories of art and painting. The flattening and morphing of the figure also draws influence from Dubuffet's iconic Corps de Dame series, notably The Tree of Fluids from 1950 in the Tate Collection, London. In these works, both artists deconstruct and question the traditional ideas of beauty and form, a concept that would grip Dubuffet and Hiraga for the rest of their careers not only in their aesthetic sensibilities but in the subject matter that they chose to memorialise. Born in Tokyo in 1936, Hiraga's early childhood played out in the shadow of World War II and the rebuilding that followed. An autodidact, he was raised primarily by his aunt who owned a restaurant catering to the local geisha clientele, which would prove influential on his lifelong fascination and depiction of nightlife and people living on the societal fringes. He initially shirked an artistic pursuit in order to study economics at university and only after he graduated would he turn to art and begin creating works, such as Girl Embracing a Butterfly, that would help to very quickly establish his reputation at home and abroad. In 1965 one of his works was acquired by MoMA, New York and was also included in the travelling exhibition New Japanese Paintings and Sculpture that visited eight major US museums from 1965 to 1967. During the same period, he won the National Young Artists Grand Prix, which provided the grant that would allow him to move to Paris, where he would live for the following decade. In Paris, he not only associated with the Japanese ex-patriate community that had developed there, notably with the artist Toshimitsu Ima?, but also with more established figures in the art world, with Pablo Picasso said to have attended his gallery openings. Following in the footsteps of many artists before him, he took up residence in the Pigalle district of Paris, known for being the location of the infamous cabaret club the Moulin Rouge. As the artist himself described, life in Paris was a 'culture shock' but once assimilated the debauchery and characters of the Pigalle would become enduring themes in Hiraga's oeuvre for the rest of his life. He returned to Japan in the late 1970s, where he lived in an artistic commune of sorts in Hakone near Tokyo and where a museum of his work was established in 2000 shortly before his death. As his place in the artistic canon continues to be re-examined, he has since been the subject of several exhibitions at home and abroad with works such as Girl Embracing a Butterfly demonstrating his distinct and captivating vision.平賀敬是戰後日本嶄露頭角的藝術家裡最令人注目的藝術家之一。他的風格特立,兼具超現實與具像,既怪異又纖細,透過他無以倫比的視角,創造出迷人且姿態獨特的作品。《擁抱蝴蝶的女孩》一方面展現藝術家年輕時生活在戰後日本所受的影響,一方面亦呼應同時期的歐洲藝術風潮,特別是尚.杜布菲(Jean Dubuffet)。畫中厚實的肌理層次,有若日本流傳數世紀之久的漆喰 (shikkui)建築塗料技術。從厚重的單色畫面裡,浮現出一隻蝴蝶與一個人的形象,而兩個形體之間的分界是一個謎。即便題材是優美的,粗糙、重復修改的畫面卻回應了那段時期日本持續處理的瘡傷。作為日本文化裡一個重要的象徵,蝴蝶暗示著轉化及改變,而存在於人物與昆蟲之間,那夢境般令人迷惑的矛盾進一步強化此一意象。於此同時,作品裡渾厚、幾乎有機的肌理足以匹敵杜布菲那些採用非傳統、有時取自大自然的材料加以雕刻或塑形,並從根本質問當下藝術及繪畫理論的畫作。平賀敬畫中人物的平面化與變形亦流露出杜布菲著名的「女體」(Corps de Dame)系列的影響,特別是倫敦泰德美術館典藏的1950年名作 《液態的樹》(The Tree of Fluids )。在這些作品裡,兩位藝術家解構並質疑美與形式的傳統概念,而這樣的創作理念貫穿了杜布菲與平賀敬整個創作生涯,不僅僅在於他們的美學鑒賞態度,亦左右了他們選擇作為繪畫題材以茲記憶的對象。 1936年出生於東京,平賀敬的幼年在二戰的陰影及戰後重建中渡過。作為一位自學者,他主要由姑姑扶養長大。他的姑姑經營一家為當地藝妓顧客供應酒席的餐館,往後對平賀敬產生長遠的影響,使他一生著迷於夜生活以及邊緣人的處境,進而以之作為創作的題材。平賀敬並非一開始即踏上成為藝術家的道路,而是進入大學研讀經濟學,直到他畢業之後,才回到藝術領域並開始創作,《擁抱蝴蝶的女孩》即是此時期的作品,他以極快的速度在日本與國外建立的名聲。1965年,紐約MoMA購藏了一件他的作品,作品並在1965至1967年間隨著「日本新繪畫與雕塑」巡迴展前往美國八座重要美術館展出。同一時期,他榮獲「國家青年藝術大賞」,得到的獎金讓他得以遷居巴黎,此後在花都長居達12年。在巴黎,平賀敬不僅僅與居住當地的日本社群來往,例如今井俊滿(Toshimitsu Ima?),也與更為知名的藝壇人士交流,據傳帕布羅.畢卡索(Pablo Picasso)曾出席他在畫廊展覽的開幕。跟隨許多藝術家前輩的腳步,他落腳於巴黎皮加勒區,這裡即是著名的夜總會餐廳紅磨坊的所在地。如同藝術家描述的,在巴黎的生活帶來「文化衝擊」,然而一但融入,皮加勒區縱情酒色的放蕩氛圍即成為平賀敬藝術創作裡不朽的主題。藝術家在1970年代後期回到日本,居住在東京附近箱根的藝術社群,2000年平賀敬過世之前,他的美術館正是在此成立。平賀敬在藝術史上的地位持續受到重新評價的同時,包含《擁抱蝴蝶的女孩》在內的作品持續在日本及其它地方展出,展現藝術家獨特的洞察力與充滿魅力的視野。