Saru Gallery
       Japanese Prints & Japanese Paintings

Biography Komai, Tetsurô (1920 - 1976)

Born in Tokyo, Komait Tetsurô studied at the Tokyo Art School from 1938 to 1942 After World War II he exhibited works as a member of the Nihon Hanga Kyokai (Japanese Print Society) and Shunyokai artists’ association and also contributed prints to a variety of exhibitions. In 1951 he received an award in the first São Paulo Biennale for a representative work of his early period, Momentary Illusion, the same exhibition where Saitô Kiyoshi received an award (and had his breakthrough as an artist) with Steady Gaze. In the following year he was also given an award at the Lugano International Print Biennial. From 1954 to 1955 he studied in Paris; during and after this time he received advice from Kiyoshi Hasegawa, who was a clear influence on his work.
In later years he divided his time between creating illustrated books and illustrating numerous poetry anthologies of friends, and lecturing at the Tama Art University (1970–71) and Tokyo University (1972–6). Komai, while freely using various copperplate etching techniques, continually created lyrical, witty works, both figurative and abstract. He played an important role in the promotion of copperplate etching as an art form in post-war Japan.