Charles A. Hartman Fine Art is excited to present Drop of Dreams, an exquisite selection of original photolithographic collages from the early 1950s by the Japanese artist, Toshiko Okanoue. Okanoue’s collages, created when she was in her mid-20s in post-war Japan, were constructed largely from American picture magazines such as Life and Vogue. Mining these rich visual sources of American popular culture, Okanoue’s beautiful surrealist imagery expresses the dreams of a young female artist in Japan standing at the crossroads of events and movements of enormous historic significance.
Toshiko Okanoue was born in Kôchi, Japan in 1928. In the early 1950s, she attended fashion and design school in Tokyo. She made approximately 120 collages over a rich period of about six years, ceasing to work as an artist after getting married in 1957. Her work was widely shown and published at the time, and since being rediscovered in the late 1990s, Okanoue’s collages have been exhibited and collected widely by major museums in both Japan and the United States. There are very few examples left in private hands, this exhibition presents some excellent pieces that have until recently been retained by the artist.
Toshiko Okanoue was born in Kôchi, Japan in 1928. In the early 1950s, she attended fashion and design school in Tokyo. She made approximately 120 collages over a rich period of about six years, ceasing to work as an artist after getting married in 1957. Her work was widely shown and published at the time, and since being rediscovered in the late 1990s, Okanoue’s collages have been exhibited and collected widely by major museums in both Japan and the United States. There are very few examples left in private hands, this exhibition presents some excellent pieces that have until recently been retained by the artist.