Artist of the Day, October 18, 2023: Minoru Niizuma, a Japanese sculptor (abstract) (#1934)

Minoru Niizuma (1930 –1998) was a Japanese abstract sculptor. He graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1955, and from 1954 through 1958 he exhibited with the Modern Art Association. Niizuma moved to New York in 1959, and from 1964 through 1970 he was an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. From 1972 through 1984, he was adjunct professor at Columbia University.

Niizuma worked mostly marble, but also granite, volcanic rock and other materials. His designs would vary from geometric to organic and, sometimes, his references were reminiscent from folk art. His works show the influence of the oriental Asian tradition and the western contemporary art. The Wave's Voice, installed in the Honolulu Museum of Art, is a typical example of his work.

His work is in public collections in the United States, Europe and Japan, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of Modern Art in Japan.

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Minoru Niizuma

 Sculpture Garden at the Bacalhoa Winery in Azeitão, Portugal

 Untitled, 1960s

 Nest, 1969

 Stormy Wind, 1969

 Untitled, 1969

Untitled, 1969

 Castle of the eye, 1972 detail

 Castle of the eye, 1972

Untitled (Vertical Form) 1972

Untitled, 1972

Untitled, 1972

 Thunderstorm, 1973

Nest, 1974

Nest, 1974

 Untitled, 1974

Untitled, 1975

Mountainous, 1979

 Pyramid, 1979

Untitled, Nest, 1979

Palace, 1980

 Infinity, 1985

 Infinity, 1985. Jardim Paulo Vallada, Porto

The Azores, 1987

The Azores, 1987

Castle of the Eye, 1994

Castle of the Eye, 1995  Lisbon, Portugal

Castle of the eye, 2012