Keiko Minami 南圭子

Keiko Minami (1911-2004)
Lock
Aquatint
Circa 1985
Signed and numbered 57/120 in pencil
57x38 cm

The Japanese painter, printmaker, and poet Minami Keiko is best known for her whimsical aquatints featuring childlike motifs. Orphaned at a young age, she developed an early interest in art. After studying at the Tokyo University of the Arts and returning to Toyama for several years, she designed children's books in Tokyo, where she met her future husband, Yôzô Hamaguchi, a renowned mezzotint artist. In the 1950s, they moved to Paris, where she studied aquatint under Johnny Friedlaender. Her print "Arbre de la Paix" (Tree of Peace) was selected for UNICEF's Christmas card in 1958. In 1982, she moved with Hamaguchi to San Francisco. After 40 years abroad, they returned to Japan in 1996.