Key Sato

Japanese 1906-1978\n

1972

Signed: Key Sato .72 lower left and again (verso)
\nMarked: \"paysage d' homme\" (verso)

Oil on canvas

32 x 39 1/2 inches
\nFramed: 33 x 40 1/4 inches

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In these years Sato often worked more slowly, spending long periods contemplating the canvas before laying down paint, a habit that deepened the meditative quality of his surfaces. He was also increasingly absorbed in reconciling the gestural freedom of Western abstraction with the restrained lyricism of Japanese painting traditions that had shaped him since childhood. This dual influence is palpable in the work’s mixture of strong physical presence and quiet spiritual resonance.\"}]},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"The relatively large format offered Sato a space broad enough for expansive gestures and layered textures. The oil paint, dense and tactile in certain passages, reveals the pressure and speed of the brush. In other areas, the paint appears almost rubbed or dragged across the surface, leaving thin, dry edges that register the delay between gestures. These contrasts of thickness and transparency allow the viewer to sense the tempo of the painting’s creation, as if each layer recorded a different moment in the artist’s thought process. Some sections even suggest scraping or lifting, small adjustments often invisible at first glance but crucial for understanding how Sato patiently constructed depth through subtraction as much as addition.\"}]},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"The year 1972 held personal significance for Sato. He was living between the influences of his Japanese heritage and the artistic world of New York, where he had long been in contact with painters exploring abstraction, including friends and colleagues from the postwar era. Though he remained somewhat discreet on the art scene, this period was marked by a renewed interest in the human figure, not in a literal sense but as a presence emerging through gesture and atmosphere. In \"},{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"Paysage d’Homme\",\"italic\":true},{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\", the figure seems to arise from the landscape rather than stand apart from it, embodying Sato’s belief that the boundaries between self and environment are porous. This merging of figure and ground echoes his fascination with the Japanese notion of ma, the interval or space that gives meaning to form.\"}]},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"The palette is composed of earthy browns, muted greens, ochres, and soft greys, punctuated by unexpectedly bright touches that catch the eye only after extended looking. These small highlights, often tucked into transitions between forms, act like breaths of light that activate the entire composition. Sato’s sensitivity to color was deeply influenced by his study of traditional Japanese pigments earlier in his life; he often modified Western oil colors to imitate the subtle mineral tones he admired. In this painting, these adjustments produce a harmony that is more atmospheric than descriptive, enveloping the figure in a landscape that feels both real and abstracted.\"}]},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"Under close observation, the texture of the paint reveals details that are easy to overlook. Some ridges catch light differently depending on the viewing angle, suggesting that Sato applied them with a slightly tilted brush, allowing gravity to pull the pigment just enough to form small drips that were then partially flattened. The canvas becomes a record of the material’s physical behavior: viscosity, drying time, and the absorption of the ground all contribute to a surface that feels alive. This subtle interaction between chance and intention is central to Sato’s late work, where the materiality of paint becomes an expression of the passage of time.\"}]},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"Though the painting emanates a quiet calm, it carries an underlying tension in the way the figure dissolves into the landscape. This interplay reflects Sato’s lifelong interest in the fragile balance between presence and disappearance, a theme that intensified as he grew older. The title \"},{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"Paysage d’Homme\",\"italic\":true},{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\" invites viewers to consider not only the visible scene but the idea of humanity embedded in the world, shaped by forces larger than itself.\"}]},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"The painting remained in a private New York collection for decades before appearing at auction in 2025. It has been newly reframed in a more refined frame. This long domestic life suggests that the canvas was appreciated intimately rather than publicly, resonating quietly with its owners much as Sato’s art often did during his lifetime. \"},{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"Paysage d’Homme\",\"italic\":true},{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\" stands as a mature and contemplative work, weaving together landscape, figure, material, and memory into a unified vision shaped by Sato’s deep sensitivity to both nature and the act of painting.\"}]}]}","exhibitions",{"_186":198},"provenance",{"_186":275},"{\"type\":\"root\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"text\",\"value\":\"Private collection, NYShowplace Auction, Astoria NY October 2025\"}]}]}",{"_224":277},[278],{"_15":227,"_279":280,"_281":20,"_29":282},"mediaContentType","IMAGE","alt",{"_15":283,"_23":284,"_285":-5,"_259":286,"_262":287},"gid://shopify/ImageSource/25396261126242","https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0633/7377/0850/files/4cc6f244292076b36b70ffbbe8146bdaj.jpg?v=1770936278","altText",2909,2401,"options",[290],{"_17":291,"_292":293},"Title","optionValues",[294],{"_17":295,"_296":297,"_316":-5},"Default Title","firstSelectableVariant",{"_298":143,"_299":-5,"_15":300,"_29":301,"_305":306,"_308":309,"_310":311,"_313":314,"_42":295,"_315":-5},"availableForSale","compareAtPrice","gid://shopify/ProductVariant/42561891762274",{"_302":303,"_15":304,"_23":284,"_285":-5,"_259":286,"_262":287},"__typename","Image","gid://shopify/ProductImage/34314264838242","price",{"_232":307,"_234":235},"30000.0","product",{"_42":212,"_183":211},"selectedOptions",[312],{"_17":291,"_186":295},"sku","18764","unitPrice","swatch","selectedOrFirstAvailableVariant",{"_298":143,"_299":-5,"_15":300,"_29":319,"_305":320,"_308":321,"_310":322,"_313":314,"_42":295,"_315":-5},{"_302":303,"_15":304,"_23":284,"_285":-5,"_259":286,"_262":287},{"_232":307,"_234":235},{"_42":212,"_183":211},[323],{"_17":291,"_186":295},"adjacentVariants",[],{"_19":327,"_42":328},"Key Sato Japanese 1906-1978 Paysage d' Homme, 1972 Signed: Key Sato .72 lower left and again (verso) Marked: \"paysage d' homme\" (verso) Oil on canvas 32 x 39 1/2 inches Framed: 33 x 40 1/4 inches","Key Sato, Paysage d' Homme, 1972","products",{"_331":332,"_335":336},"edges",[333],{"_334":209},"node","pageInfo",{"_337":157,"_338":157,"_339":340,"_341":340},"hasPreviousPage","hasNextPage","startCursor","eyJsYXN0X2lkIjo3NTEwNDkzMTY3NzE0LCJsYXN0X3ZhbHVlIjoiMTg3NjQsIGtleSBzYXRvLCBwYXlzYWdlIGQnIGhvbW1lLCAxOTcyIn0=","endCursor",{"_42":187,"_19":20,"_23":343,"_222":344,"_164":345},"https://taylorandgraham.com/artists/582-key-sato",[-5,-5],{"_44":346,"_17":185,"_19":20,"_188":347,"_349":192,"_350":195,"_29":-7,"_351":352,"_23":-7},"Person",{"_44":348,"_17":189},"Country","birthDate","deathDate","sameAs",[],"actionData","errors"]

Key Sato

Paysage d' Homme1972

Overview