Cloud Image

Suzuki Osamu (b.1926), the Kyoto-based maker of 'Cloud Image', is widely known in Japan and abroad for the monumental quality and minimalist purity of his sculptural forms. His interest in primitive art initially manifested itself in the early 1960s in a series of works distantly based on Jomon period ceramic figurines with titles such as earthen figure (dogu) and clay image (deizo). His mature style developed in the late 1960s when he made the first of his famous horses modelled after haniwa tomb figurines of the Tumulus period (258-646). The work shown here belongs to a period in the early 1980s when he was experimenting with themes such as wind, clouds and sun.