Morikazu Kumagai and the cloisonné technique

Morikazu Kumagai and the cloisonné technique. Tarnhelm Editions. Morikazu Kumagai 熊谷 守一 is maybe one of the most fascinating artist of the XXth century. During the 40s, when he was around 60 years old, the great artist slowly gave up the virtuosity to forge his very style : very simplified shapes, surrounded by outlines with flat pure colors. Kumagai’s pictorial technique is the subject of this humble Etude. In order to illustrate it, I chose the painting “Camellia”, dating from 1972. The cloisonné technique is very ancient. Archeologists found Mycenaean rings from graves in Cyprus dating from 12th century before Christ (the contour of the rings was made with thin wires). I will demonstrate in this humble Etude that Morikazu Kumagai’s pictorial technique entirely refers to the cloisonné technique as it can be found in jewelry, enamel or stained-glass artworks (...)