Minol Araki

Minol Araki or was a Japanese painter and industrial designer.

Life and education Araki was born in Dalian, in Japanese-occupied Kwantung Leased Territory, in 1928. His father owned a restaurant and died when Araki was a teenager. Araki began painting at an early age and at age seven entered the tutelage of an old Chinese painter who his parents were friends with. Araki died in 2010.

Araki's work was also influenced by his travels, and by painters Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Egon Schiele. Another interest was Pablo Picasso and other contemporary abstract painters. Through various styles, Araki is known for his literati painting and expressing his unique perspective as someone with various cultural influences, both from upbringing and his travels. Araki's best-known piece is Snow Monkeys at Play in Autumn and Winter, a work that is inspired by the Nihonga painting style of 20th-century Japan.

Unlike most artists, Araki did not collect old paintings, preferring to save antique painting instruments, like brushes, ink and inkstones, and paper. This may have been inspired by his mentor Zhang's work in textile dyeing. Metropolitan Museum of Art Minneapolis Institute of Art National Museum of History in Taipei Phoenix Art Museum (1999)