Masaaki Yamada (Japanese, 1929-2010)Work C.p.170
1963

signed and dated 1963 in English and Japanese, and titled on the reverse
oil on paper

79 x 54 cm (31 1/8 x 21 1/4 in)注脚We are grateful to the Estate of Yamada Masaaki for confirming the cataloguing of the present work.

Provenance
Collection of the Artist, Japan
M. Art, Japan
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

山田正亮
作品C.p.170
油彩紙本
1963年作

背面簽名：C.p.170, M.Yamada 1963 山田正亮 一九六三年

我們由衷感謝山田正亮遺產管理委員會確認此拍品資料

來源
藝術家收藏（日本）
M. Art（日本）
現藏家購自上述收藏

Beginning his artistic career in 1949 following the horrors of World War II, Masaaki Yamada developed his artistic skills in search for direction and control amidst the chaos of post-war Japan. For over half a century, he devoted himself entirely to art. For Yamada, the creative process was all consuming: "I have to keep working. I have entered into a contract with painting" (the artist in: Kazuo Nakabayashi Ed., Endless: The Paintings of Yamada Masaaki, Tokyo 2016, title page). Repetition, precision, and basic components of lines and colors are central to his oeuvre.

Yamada's work is generally split into three distinct groups: Still-life, Work and Colour. Presented in this section are two works from his second and longest period, which stretched from 1956 until 1997, and is recognized as the core of his career. Through even applications of paint, Yamada renders his works with a strong philosophical approach, carried through with an intellectual, meditative and repetitive continuous working process that valued high volume production. Through his methodology, his entire artistic oeuvre can be read as one meta-painting, with each work representing a singular moment in the process.

Yamada began exploring the cross motif in 1965, as seen Work C.234. Emphasizing purity of line and color as well as flatness of the compositions, Yamada's Work C.234 conveys a sense of spirituality, balance and coherence, which are core elements to Yamada's lifelong dedication to art. Stylistically different from Work C.234, the oil on paper Work C.p.170 reveals a nuance of texture and brushstroke layered through Yamada's rhythmic repetition. At first glance, the work seems almost mechanical, with only two to three colors, but closer inspection reveals multiple variations of colors that pulse with an inner power. Embodying a point in Japanese history of art, Yamada's works remain hugely influential in the art historical canon while maintaining enthralling and contemporary today.

山田正亮的藝術生涯始於世界二次大戰結束後的一九四九年，在當時日本混亂的戰後環境之中，展開對藝術方向和規律性的追尋之旅。超過半個世紀以來，山田正亮在創作上努力不懈，對他而言創作是一件必須全心全意投入的過程：「我得持續不斷的創作，像是與繪畫簽下了一紙合約一般」（出處：中林和雄，《無盡：山田正亮的繪畫》Ｉ（暫譯），2016：東京，書名頁）。重複性的手法、精準的掌控力和線條與色彩的基本元素是山田正亮的核心特色。

山田正亮的創作一般而言可分為三大系列：「靜物」、「作品」與「色彩」。在此展出的兩件作品出自他第二個也是最長的創作階段，此階段從一九五六年延續至一九九七年，是他藝術生涯最重要的一段時間。山田正亮以均勻的上色工序賦予作品強烈的哲學內涵，透過思考、冥想和持續重複的繪畫勞力生產出大量的作品。基於如此特別的創作方式，他的整個藝術創作可在宏觀的意義上視為一件大作，每件作品都代表創作歷程中的單一時刻。

山田正亮自一九六五年開始探索十字主題，這樣的主題可見於《作品C.234》。純粹的線條、顏色以及平坦的構圖，《作品C.234》傳遞出靈性、平衡和均一的特質，這些都是山田正亮畢生致力於達到的目標。紙上油彩作品《作品C.p.170》的風格則有所不同，微妙的質感和筆觸透露出藝術家富有韻律的重複性手法。乍看之下似乎是機械性的，只用到二到三種顏色，仔細端詳之後則不難發現其內在張力與豐富多元的色彩。山田正亮的創作是日本藝術史上一個獨特的典範，作為藝術史上極有影響力的大師級作品，這些作品仍在今日展現驚人的魅力。