Minami, Keiko (Japanese, 1911-2004) UNTITLED (GIRL WITH BIRD). Oil on Canvas, not dated. Signed, lower right. 6 3/8 x 4 5/8 inches (image), 7 x 5 1/2 inches (canvas). In a handsome carved frame measuring 11 1/2 x 10 inches. Stamps of the Paris Art Supply store Senneleir on the verso of the canvas and the stretcher help to date this as likely from the time Minami lived and worked in Paris (1953-1981). Minami, who had lived, married and worked as an artist in Toyama, moved to Tokyo following WWII. She married Yozo Hamaguchi, now appreciated for his work in mezzotint. In 1953 they moved to Paris, where she studied with the printmaker Johnny Friedlaender. In1961 Heinz Berggruen, a leading European print dealer began to represent her. She and Hamaguchi moved from Paris to San Francico in 1981, and ultimately returned to Japan in 1996, where they lived for the remainder of their lives.
