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Toko Shinoda
篠田 桃紅
Tōkō Shinoda.jpg
Born
Shinoda Masuko (篠田満州子)

(1913-03-28)28 March 1913
Dairen, Kwantung Leased Territory
Died 1 March 2021(2021-03-01) (aged 107)
Tokyo, Japan
Nationality Japanese
Known for Painting, calligraphy, printmaking

Toko Shinoda (篠田 桃紅, Shinoda Tōkō, 28 March 1913 – 1 March 2021) was a famous Japanese artist. She was known for her amazing abstract paintings and prints made with traditional Japanese ink, called sumi. Her art often looked like the bold, expressive brushstrokes of a Western art style called Abstract Expressionism.

Toko Shinoda's works were shown in important art galleries in New York City, like the Bertha Schaefer Gallery and the Betty Parsons Gallery. She continued to create art throughout her very long life. In 2013, when she turned 100, special exhibitions were held in Gifu Prefecture to celebrate her birthday.

Her art has been displayed in many museums around the world. These include the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Besides being an artist, Shinoda was also a talented writer. She published more than 20 books.

About Toko Shinoda's Life

Early Years and Learning (1913–1936)

Toko Shinoda was born on March 28, 1913, in Dairen, which is now part of China. Her birth name was Masuko, meaning "child of Manchuria." Later, she received her artist name, Tōkō, which means "red peach flower."

In 1914, her family moved to Tokyo, Japan, where she grew up. Her father, Raijirō, taught her different kinds of classical poetry. He also gave her her first calligraphy lessons when she was just five years old. Calligraphy is the art of beautiful handwriting.

When she was older, Shinoda went to a women's school. There, she continued to learn calligraphy from a teacher named Setsudō Shimono. She also learned to write short poems called tanka. Even though she was encouraged to be creative, people didn't expect her to become a professional artist. Back then, it was more common for women's creative skills to be seen as hobbies.

In 1936, at age 23, Shinoda decided to follow her passion. She left home and started earning money by teaching calligraphy. This was a big step for her career.

Starting Her Art Career (1940)

In 1940, Toko Shinoda had her very first art show in Ginza, Tokyo. She showed her own poems written in kana, which is a Japanese writing style. However, some traditional calligraphy experts didn't like her work. They said it wasn't based enough on old styles.

This was partly because of how calligraphy styles were seen for men and women. Women were often expected to use kana calligraphy in a delicate, traditional way. Shinoda's art was new and different, which upset some people.

Soon after this show, her career was put on hold. The Pacific War began, and she had to move away from Tokyo. She also got sick with tuberculosis and couldn't work until 1947.

New Abstract Art After the War (1947–1956)

After World War II, Shinoda's art changed a lot. She started creating abstract art. She felt a new sense of freedom to show her feelings through her brushstrokes and ink. Her new style used different ways of splashing and moving ink.

Many artists in Japan were exploring new forms of calligraphy after the war. However, the art world was mostly led by men. Shinoda didn't have a specific teacher or group to follow, and she was often on her own. She joined the Calligraphic Art Institute for a while. This gave her chances to show her work and become more known. But she didn't like the strict rules and hierarchies of these art groups.

In the 1950s, Shinoda started working with famous architects. In 1954, she had a successful show in Tokyo. The space for her art was designed by Kenzō Tange, a leading architect. She also created large ink murals for buildings, including the Japan Pavilion at an event in São Paulo in 1954. Her art began to be seen outside of Japan.

In 1954, her work was part of a group show called Japanese Calligraphy at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A famous artist from Europe, Pierre Alechinsky, even made a film about her and other Japanese calligraphers in 1955. Shinoda actively worked to show her art to more people around the world.

Time in America (1956–1958)

In 1956, Toko Shinoda traveled to the United States. She was invited to have a solo exhibition in Boston. She was 43 years old at the time. With help from another artist, she also got her first solo show in New York in 1957.

During her two years in the US, Shinoda's art became very popular. She had solo exhibitions in many cities, including New York, Chicago, Paris, and Brussels. A famous photographer, Hans Namuth, even took pictures of her creating an abstract ink painting. Namuth was known for photographing other famous abstract artists like Jackson Pollock.

Becoming a Major Artist (1958–2021)

Shinoda returned to Japan in 1958. She found the dry climate in the US wasn't good for her ink paintings. In the 1960s, she developed her unique style. Her paintings featured wide, bold lines and rich shades of black ink.

From 1960 onwards, Shinoda also created over 1,000 lithographs. These are a type of print. A printmaker named Kihachi Kimura worked with her for about 50 years to create these prints.

She also worked on large art projects for buildings. These included a grand curtain for the Meijiza Theatre in Tokyo in 1963. She also made a mural for the VIP room of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in 1964. In 1974, she created large sliding screen paintings for the Zōjō-ji Temple. These paintings were about 95 feet long.

Shinoda's abstract ink paintings and prints continued to be shown around the world. She had many solo shows at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York. She chose to keep some distance from the traditional Japanese art world. This helped her become a well-known international artist.

She was one of the first important women artists in calligraphy. She made this traditional art form more modern by using abstract and dynamic styles. Her work was shown in both calligraphy and abstract art exhibitions. She created her own path, which helped her stand out.

In the mid-1960s, Shinoda started adding colors like silver, gold, and red to her work. These colors created dramatic contrasts with her black ink. Even though she was famous internationally in the 1950s, her first major museum show in Japan wasn't until 1989.

Toko Shinoda remained active her entire life. In 2013, when she was 100, several exhibitions celebrated her work. In 2016, she was honored on a postage stamp in Japan. She was the only Japanese artist to receive this honor while still alive. Toko Shinoda passed away on March 1, 2021, at the age of 107. After her death, more exhibitions celebrated her amazing art.

Her Legacy

Toko Shinoda's art is often displayed at the Toko Shinoda Art Space and the Gifu Collection of Modern Arts. These places are in Seki, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. They are supported by a foundation that helps keep her art alive. Even though Shinoda never lived in Gifu, her father's family was from that area.

Books Written by Toko Shinoda

  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Atarashii shodō jūni-kagetsu: Jojōshi no kaisetsu o soete (New Calligraphy Twelve Months: With Explanations of Lyric Poems). Tokyo: Dōgakusha, 1954.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Iroha shijūhachi moji (Forty-Eight Iroha Characters). Tokyo: Yaraishoin, 1976.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Sumi iro (Ink Color). Kyoto: PHP kenkyūjo, 1978.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Shudeishō (Vermilion Mud Excerpt). Kyoto: PHP kenkyūjo, 1979.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Sono hi no sumi (That Day's Ink). Tokyo: Tōjusha, 1983.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō, ed. Sumi (Ink). Tokyo: Sakuhinsha, 1985.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Omoi no hoka no (Beyond Expectation). Tokyo: Tōjusha, 1985.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Ichi-ji hitokoto (One Character, One Word). Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1986.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Kinō no yukue (Where Yesterday Went). Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1990.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Sumi o yomu: Ichi-ji hitokoto (Reading Ink: One Character, One Word). Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1998.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō: Watashi toiu hitori (Toko: The One Person That Is Me). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2000.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō ehon (Toko Picture Book) = Toko Shinoda Visual Book. Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2002.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō hyaku-nen (Toko One Hundred Years). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2013.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyaku-sai no chikara (The Power of 100 Years Old). Tokyo: Shūeisha, 2014.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyakusan-sai, hitori de ikiru sahō: Oitara oita de, manzara de mo nai (103 Years Old, How to Live Alone: When You Get Old, It's Not So Bad). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2015.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyakusan-sai ni natte wakatta koto: Jinsei wa hitori demo omoshiroi (What I Understood at 103: Life is Interesting Even Alone). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2015.
  • Hinohara, Shigeaki, Shinoda Tōkō, Hori Fumiko, et al. Hyaku-sai ga kiku hyaku-sai no hanashi (100-Year-Olds Listen to 100-Year-Old Stories). Tokyo: Jitsugyōnonihonsha, 2015.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Jinsei wa ippon no sen (Life is a Single Line). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2016.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Hyakugo-sai, shinenai no mo komaru no yo (105 Years Old, It's Also a Problem Not to Die). Tokyo: Gentōsha, 2017.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Tōkō hyakugo-sai sukina mono to ikiru (Toko 105 Years Old, Living with What I Love). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 2017.
  • Shinoda, Tōkō. Kore de oshimai (This is the End). Tokyo: Kōdansha, 2021.

Exhibitions of Toko Shinoda's Art

Solo Exhibitions

  • 1940 Kyūkyodō, Tokyo
  • 1954 Ginza Matsuzakaya Department Store, Tokyo
  • 1956 Yōseidō Gallery, Tokyo
  • 1956 Swetzoff Gallery, Boston
  • 1957 Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York
  • 1957 Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati
  • 1957 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
  • 1957 La Hune, Paris
  • 1958 Jefferson Place Gallery, Washington, D.C.
  • 1959 Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
  • 1965 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York
  • 1968 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York
  • 1971 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York
  • 1977 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York
  • 1989 Toko Shinoda, Seibu Museum at Art, Tokyo
  • 1992 Toko Shinoda Retrospective, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu
  • 1996 Toko Shinoda: Visual Poetry, Singapore Art Museum
  • 1998 Annely Juda Fine Art, London
  • 2001 Sōgetsu Kaikan, Tokyo
  • 2003 Variations of Vermillion, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
  • 2013 Toko Shinoda 100 Years, Gifu Collection of Modern Arts, Toko Shinoda Art Space, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, and Gallery Kohodo.
  • 2013 Trailblazer: The Art of Shinoda Toko, Japan Society, New York
  • 2013 Toko Shinoda: A Lifetime of Accomplishment, Musée Tomo, Tokyo
  • 2017 Toko Shinoda: In the Autumn of My Years..., Musée Tomo, Tokyo
  • 2018 Zōjōj Temple, Tokyo
  • 2018－2021 Toko Shinoda: Things Transient － Colors of Sumi, Forms of the Mind, Ueda City Museum of Art, Ueda, Nagano, Nariwa Museum, Takahashi, Okayama, Kosetsu Museum of Art, Kobe, the Suiboku Museum, Toyama, and Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama.
  • 2022 Toko Shinoda: A Retrospective, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
  • 2022 Toko Shinoda: Bridge Over Fleeting Dreams, Musée Tomo, Tokyo

Group Exhibitions

  • 1954 Japanese Calligraphy, Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • 1955 Japan America Abstract Arts, The National Museum of Modern Art
  • 1955 Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy: Art in Sumi, The National Museum of Modern Art
  • 1958 Development of Modern Japanese Abstract Painting, The National Museum of Modern Art
  • 1959 Sumi Paintings of Japan, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
  • 1961 6th São Paulo Biennial
  • 1961 1961 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
  • 1961 Contemporary Japanese Art, Akademie der Kunst, Berlin
  • 1967 ROSC '67, Royal Dublin Society, Dublin
  • 1971 ROSC '71, Royal Dublin Society, Dublin
  • 1973 Development of Postwar Japanese Art: Abstract and Non-figurative, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
  • 1979 Okada, Shinoda, and Tsutaka: Three Pioneers of Abstract Painting in 20th Century Japan, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
  • 1992 Calligraphy and Painting, the Passionate Age: 1945-1969, O Art Museum, Tokyo
  • 1994－1995 Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Yokohama Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum SoHo, and San Francisco Museum of Art
  • 1995 Japanese Culture: The Fifty Postwar Years, Meguro Museum of Art, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, and Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art
  • 2021 Contemporary Women Artists of Japan: Six Stories, The Asahi Shinbun Displays, British Museum

Where Her Art Can Be Seen

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Toko Shinoda para niños

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