Imai Toshimitsu Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Imai Toshimitsu (1928 – 2002) was born in 1928 in Kyoto. In 1948 he graduated from high school and began his studies at the Tokyo State Art Academy. Read the full biography

Imai Toshimitsu (1928 – 2002) was born in 1928 in Kyoto. In 1948 he graduated from high school and began his studies at the Tokyo State Art Academy. His early paintings have a Fauves-like aesthetic. In fact, he moved to Paris in 1952 after his first solo exhibition in Japan. Here he exhibited his paintings at the Salon de l'Art Sacré in 1953 and 1954. In March 1955, he moved from figurative to abstract art and joined the informal movement, influenced by new impressions and the critic Michel Tapié. He was a key figure in the introduction of European abstract painting to his home country. Leo Castelli in New York began selling Imai's artwork in 1956. The artist received international notoriety with his successes at the Venice Biennale in 1960 and the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1953, which brought him to national prominence. Imai received a prize at the Fifth Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art in Tokyo in 1962, and the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art purchased many of his works. His works were exhibited for two years at the Center Georges Pompidou, receiving the honorary titles of Knight of the Légion d'honneur in 1996 and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1997.1