Flavio-Shiro Tanaka (Japan, b.1928)
Composition 1961 (Biennale de Paris, 1961)
Oil on canvas
57 cms x 51 cms
Signed "Flavio-Shiro" (lower left)
Inscribed (verso)

Provenance:
Biennale de Paris 1961
Artist Willy Mucha (1905 - 1995)
Private Collection, France
Private Collection, United Kingdom
[with] Contemporary Art Management

Comparable:
Sculptures - Peintures - Dessins - Mobilier 28 May 2015
Bolsa De Arte Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sin titulo (1965) : Lot #44
Painting Oil on canvas : 133 cms x 81 cms
Estimate: £ 5,160 - £ 7,224 (BRR 25,000 - BRR 35,000 )
Hammer price: £ 24,768 (BRR 120,000)

Notes / Condition Report:
Rare original Biennale de Paris 1961 period work of art in unrestored condition with very minor faults and artists original basic wooden frame. Dedicated to his friend and fellow artist "Willy Mucha" (1905 - 1995), signed "Flavio-Shiro" and dated "Paris 21/6/61" (verso).  Flavio-Shiro Tenaka (Japan, b.1928) won the prize for painting at the second Biennale de Paris in 1961.

Flavio-Shiró Tanka was born in 1928 in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. In 1932, he emigrated to Tomé-Açu, Brazil with his family as part of a settler agricultural mission. Flavio-Shiró’s formative years were spent in the Amazon jungle, an experience that had a lasting influence on his artistic style and worldview. In 1939, he moved with his family to São Paulo, Brazil in search of a better education and economic opportunity.
 
In São Paulo, Flavio-Shiró began his artistic training, studying at an arts and crafts school and painting movie posters for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He also began to participate in group shows, joining the São Paulo Artists’ Union and the Grupo Santa Helena, a movement of working-class modern painters.

In the early 1950s, Flavio-Shiró held his first solo exhibition in Rio de Janeiro and exhibited paintings in the first São Paulo Art Biennial, the second oldest art biennial in the world. In 1953, Flavio-Shiró emigrated to Paris where he studied engraving and lithography at the Ecole nationale superieure des beaux arts and married the Romanian-Brazilian author and illustrator Beatrice Tanaka.

In the 1960s, Flavio-Shiró’s work shifted from abstract expressionism towards an increasingly surrealistic style featuring organic shapes and nightmarish objects inspired by his childhood in the Amazon. His artistic contributions during this period were recognized with several prestigious exhibits and awards, including the prize for painting at the second Biennale de Paris in 1961 and the Guggenheim Museum International Show in 1963.

From the 1970s through the 2010s, Flavio-Shiró’s artistic production has continued. His signature style, combining abstract gestures, rich colors, and disturbing biological objects, continued to evolve, with landmark, large-scale works including Pablo (1973) and Memória dos Cais (1987), which is in the permanent collection of the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

Fine Art Awards:
Prize for painting Biennale de Paris in 1961
Itamaraty Award at the 1989 São Paulo Biennial, Brazil
Eco-Art Prize at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Order of the Rising Sun, 2019 Japanese Government

Global Fine Art Exhibitions:
First São Paulo Art Biennial Brazil 1951
Second Art Biennial de Paris 1961
Guggenheim Museum International Show 1963

Global Fine Art Collections:
São Paulo Museum of Modern Art
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Niterói Contemporary Art Museum
Tomie Ohtake Institute

In August 2019, in recognition of his cultural achievements, the Japanese government awarded Flavio-Shiró the Order of the Rising Sun, the highest award offered by the Japanese government to non-politicians.
 
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