Toko Shinoda

was a Japanese artist. Shinoda is best known for her abstract sumi ink paintings and prints. Shinoda's oeuvre was predominantly executed using the traditional means and media of East Asian calligraphy, but her resulting abstract ink paintings and prints express a nuanced visual affinity with the bold black brushstrokes of mid-century abstract expressionism. In the postwar New York art world, Shinoda's works were exhibited at the prominent art galleries including the Bertha Schaefer Gallery and the Betty Parsons Gallery. Shinoda has had solo exhibitions at the Seibu Museum at Art, Tokyo in 1989, the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu in 1992, the Singapore Art Museum in 1996, the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in 2003, the Sogo Museum of Art in 2021, the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in 2022, and among many others. Shinoda's works are in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Harvard Art Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the Singapore Art Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria, and other leading museums of the world. Shinoda was also a prolific writer published more than 20 books.

Biography

Early life and education (1913–1936) Shinoda was born in Dairen, Kwantung Leased Territory (today Dalian, China), on 28 March 1913. Her father, Raijirō, worked as the manager of a tobacco factory; her mother, Jōko, was a housewife. Shinoda's given name was Masuko (満州子; literally "child of Manchuria") but later she received the artist name Tōkō (桃紅), meaning "red peach flower". Meanwhile, Shinoda did not have any master to follow or reject, and she was marginalized in the male-dominated calligraphic community. Importantly, Shinoda was not just a passive beneficiary of postwar internationalism and popular interest in Japanese culture in the Euro-American sphere. In fact, she actively engaged with the international art scene to expand her exhibition opportunities and audiences beyond Japan". In the 1960s, Shinoda was also commissioned for large architectural projects including the grand drape and the porcelain wall relief for the Nichinan Cultural Center (designed by Kenzō Tange) in Miyagi in 1962, the grand drape for the Meijiza Theatre (designed by Isaoya Yoshida) in Tokyo in 1963, the mural for the VIP room of Yoyogi National Gymnasium (designed by Kenzō Tange) in 1964, and the multimedia relief for the Kyoto International Conference Center (designed by Sachio Otani) in 1965.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Shinoda's abstract ink paintings and prints continued to be shown overseas frequently. Shinoda had solo shows at the prominent Betty Parsons Gallery, New York City, in 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1977. Kimihiko Nakamura points out that "Shinoda consciously maintained her distance from the patriarchal and hierarchical Japanese art world and, with her critical success outside her homeland, established herself as an acclaimed international artist". In the 1960s and 1970s, "While Shinoda's monochrome ink abstractions particularly attracted attention on the international art scene, the artist was also seeking a new mode of expression. For example, in Tōtsu yo (In the Far Past) [c. 1964], displayed at her first Betty Parsons Gallery show in 1965, ink completely forms the background and the effective use of silver paint—which changes easily over time, potentially making this piece more luminous at the time of its unveiling—brings a dramatic contrast of light and shade on the picture surface. From the mid-1960s, Shinoda's work gradually began to include a brighter palette including silver, gold, and vermilion (cinnabar), and through the late 1980s and 1990s, she pursued large-scale pieces with backgrounds of silver, gold, or platinum leaf [...]".

Shinoda remained active all her life. In 2013, she was honored with a touring retrospective exhibition at the four venues in Gifu Prefecture (Gifu Collection of Modern Arts; Toko Shinoda Art Space; Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu; and Gallery Kohodo) to celebrate her 100th birthday. Shinoda died on March 1, 2021, at a hospital in Tokyo at the age of 107. A year after her death in 2022, two retrospective of Shinoda were held at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery and the Musée Tomo, Tokyo.

Legacy Shinoda's oeuvre is regularly displayed at the Toko Shinoda Art Space (関市立篠田桃紅美術空間; opened in 2003), and Gifu Collection of Modern Arts (岐阜現代美術館; opened in 2006), both of which are located in Seki, Gifu Prefecture, and managed by the Gifu Collection of Modern Arts Foundation (岐阜現代美術財団). This foundation, in turn, has been funded by the Seki-based local company Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha (鍋屋バイテック). Although Shinoda never lived in Gifu Prefecture, her farther, Raijirō, was originally from an old family in Akutami-mura (芥見村), Gifu Prefecture.

Writing Shinoda, Tōkō. Atarashii shodō jūni-kagetsu: Jojōshi no kaisetsu o soete (新しい書道十二ケ月: 抒情詩の解説を添えて). Tokyo: Dōgakusha, 1954. Shinoda, Tōkō. Iroha shijūhachi moji (いろは四十八文字). Tokyo: Yaraishoin, 1976. Shinoda, Tōkō. Sumi iro (墨いろ). Kyoto: PHP kenkyūjo, 1978. Shinoda, Tōkō. Shudeishō (朱泥抄). Kyoto: PHP kenkyūjo, 1979. Shinoda, Tōkō. Sono hi no sumi (その日の墨). Tokyo: Tōjusha, 1983. Shinoda, Tōkō, ed. Sumi (墨). Tokyo: Sakuhinsha, 1985. Shinoda, Tōkō. Omoi no hoka no (おもいのほかの). Tokyo: Tōjusha, 1985. Shinoda, Tōkō. Ichi-ji hitokoto (一字ひとこと). Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1986. Shinoda, Tōkō. Kinō no yukue (きのうのゆくえ). Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1990. Shinoda, Tōkō. Sumi o yomu: Ichi-ji hitokoto (墨を読む: 一字ひとこと). Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1998. Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō: Watashi toiu hitori (桃紅: 私というひとり). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2000. Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō ehon (桃紅えほん) = Toko Shinoda Visual Book. Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2002. Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō hyaku-nen (桃紅百年). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2013. Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyaku-sai no chikara (百歳の力). Tokyo: Shūeisha, 2014. Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyakusan-sai, hitori de ikiru sahō: Oitara oita de, manzara de mo nai (一〇三歳、ひとりで生きる作法: 老いたら老いたで、まんざらでもない). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2015. Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyakusan-sai ni natte wakatta koto: Jinsei wa hitori demo omoshiroi (一〇三歳になってわかったこと: 人生は一人でも面白い). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2015. Hinohara, Shigeaki, Shinoda Tōkō, Hori Fumiko, et al. Hyaku-sai ga kiku hyaku-sai no hanashi (一〇〇歳が聞く一〇〇歳の話). Tokyo: Jitsugyōnonihonsha, 2015. Shinoda, Tōkō. Jinsei wa ippon no sen (人生は一本の線). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2016. Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyakugo-sai, shinenai no mo komaru no yo (一〇五歳、死ねないのも困るのよ). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2017. Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō hyakugo-sai sukina mono to ikiru (桃紅一〇五歳好きなものと生きる). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2017. Shinoda, Tōkō. Kore de oshimai (これでおしまい). Tokyo: Kōdansha, 2021.

Selected exhibitions Source:

Solo exhibitions

1940 Kyūkyodō (鳩居堂), Tokyo 1954 Ginza Matsuzakaya Department Store, Tokyo 1956 Yōseidō Gallery (養清堂画廊), Tokyo 1956 Swetzoff Gallery, Boston 1957 Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York 1957 Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati 1957 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago 1957 La Hune, Paris 1958 Jefferson Place Gallery, Washington, D.C. 1959 Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels 1965 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York 1968 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York 1971 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York 1977 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York 1989 Toko Shinoda (篠田桃紅展), Seibu Museum at Art, Tokyo 1992 Toko Shinoda Retrospective (篠田桃紅: 時のかたち), Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu 1996 Toko Shinoda: Visual Poetry, Singapore Art Museum 1998 Annely Juda Fine Art, London 2001 Sōgetsu Kaikan, Tokyo 2003 Variations of Vermillion (篠田桃紅: 朱よ), Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo 2013 Toko Shinoda 100 Years (篠田桃紅: 百の譜), Gifu Collection of Modern Arts, Toko Shinoda Art Space, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, and Gallery Kohodo. 2017 Toko Shinoda: In the Autumn of My Years... (篠田桃紅: 昔日の彼方に), Musée Tomo, Tokyo 2018 Zōjōj Temple, Tokyo 2018－2021 Toko Shinoda: Things Transient － Colors of Sumi, Forms of the Mind (篠田桃紅: とどめ得ぬもの 墨のいろ 心のかたち), Ueda City Museum of Art, Ueda, Nagano, Nariwa Museum, Takahashi, Okayama, Kosetsu Museum of Art, Kobe, the Suiboku Museum, Toyama, and Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama. 2022 Toko Shinoda: A Retrospective (篠田桃紅展), Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery 2022 Toko Shinoda: Bridge Over Fleeting Dreams (篠田桃紅: 夢の浮橋), Musée Tomo, Tokyo

Group exhibitions

1954 Japanese Calligraphy, Museum of Modern Art, New York 1955 Japan America Abstract Arts (日米抽象美術展), The National Museum of Modern Art (国立近代美術館; present The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 東京国立近代美術館) 1955 Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy: Art in Sumi (現代日本の書・墨の芸術: ヨーロッパ巡回展の国内展示), The National Museum of Modern Art (国立近代美術館) 1958 Development of Modern Japanese Abstract Painting (抽象絵画の展開), The National Museum of Modern Art (国立近代美術館) 1959 Sumi Paintings of Japan, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo 1961 6th São Paulo Biennial 1961 1961 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh 1961 Contemporary Japanese Art, Akademie der Kunst, Berlin 1967 ROSC '67, Royal Dublin Society, Dublin 1971 ROSC '71, Royal Dublin Society, Dublin 1973 Development of Postwar Japanese Art: Abstract and Non-figurative (戦後日本美術の展開: 抽象表現の多様化), The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo 1979 Okada, Shinoda, and Tsutaka: Three Pioneers of Abstract Painting in 20th Century Japan, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. 1992 Calligraphy and Painting, the Passionate Age: 1945-1969 (書と絵画の熱き時代: 1945－1969), O Art Museum (品川文化振興事業団O美術館), Tokyo 1994－1995 Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Yokohama Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum SoHo, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 1995 Japanese Culture: The Fifty Postwar Years (戦後文化の軌跡 1945-1995), Meguro Museum of Art, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, and Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art 2021 Contemporary Women Artists of Japan: Six Stories, The Asahi Shinbun Displays, British Museum

Major public collections Sources: Albright–Knox Art Gallery Art Institute of Chicago British Museum Brooklyn Museum Cincinnati Art Museum Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido Harvard Art Museums Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo Lehigh University Art Galleries Luxembourg Royal Collection Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum fuer Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu Museum Folkwang, Essen Museum of Modern Art, Toyama National Gallery of Victoria National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo National Museum of Singapore Niigata City Art Museum Singapore Art Museum Stadtisches Museum den Haag Smithsonian Institution Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa University of Michigan Museum of Art Yale University Art Gallery