Kazumasa Nagai Explained

Kazumasa Nagai (Japanese: 永井 一正, Nagai Kazumasa; Ōsaka, April 20, 1929) is a Japanese printmaker and graphic designer. He attended the University of the Arts in Tokyo to study sculpture, but had to stop due to health problems.^[1]

In 1964, he took part in documenta III, in Kassel.

He was a founding member of the Nippon Design Center (NDC)(1959), where he was its President from 1975 to 1986, Vice-President until 2001, and Senior Executive Advisor until today.

Although his first works were abstract at the beginning, he changed for handmade designs of animals and plants in the 1980s. Some of his works appeared on the cover of LIFE.^[2]

His work is held in many museums, including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco,^[3] the National Gallery of Australia,^[4] the Museum of New Zealand,^[5] the British Museum,^[6] the University of Michigan Museum of Art,^[7] the Walker Art Center,^[8] the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam,^[9] the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo,^[10] the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences,^[11] and the Museum of Modern Art.^[12]

References and sources

• documenta III. Internationale Ausstellung; Katalog: Band 1: Malerei und Skulptur; Band 2: Handzeichnungen; Band 3: Industrial Design, Graphik; Kassel/Colonia 1964

External links

• documentaarchiv in German
• Kazumasa Nagai Poster Exhibition, Ginza Graphic Gallery 2004

Notes and References

1. Web site: Helen. Kazumasa Nagai: a 90-year-old designer and his fantastic beasts. USA Art News. 2021-01-08. en-US.
2. Web site: Popova. Maria. 2019-12-12. Gorgeous Vintage Japanese Illustrations of Animals and Scientific Phenomena. 2021-03-26. Brain Pickings. en-US.
3. Web site: 2018-09-21. Kazumasa Nagai. 2021-01-08. FAMSF Search the Collections. en.
4. Web site: Nagai. Kazumasa. (Poster for the joint exhibition by four artist). 2021-01-08. Item held by National Gallery of Australia.
5. Web site: Loading... Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. 2021-01-08. collections.tepapa.govt.nz.
6. Web site: print British Museum. 2021-01-08. The British Museum. en.
7. Web site: Exchange: Kazumasa Nagai Design Life. 2021-01-08. exchange.umma.umich.edu.
8. Web site: Poster for The World of Kazumas Nagai (at Ikeda 20th Century Museum). 2021-01-08. walkerart.org. en-US.
9. Web site: Grrr.nl. Kazumasa Nagai - Kazumasa Nagai. 2021-01-08. www.stedelijk.nl. en.
10. Web site: Juxtapoz Magazine - Poster Art From the Incredible Kazumasa Nagai. 2021-03-26. www.juxtapoz.com. en-gb.
11. Web site: Japanese furoshiki designed by Kazumasa Nagai. 2021-03-26. collection.maas.museum. en.
12. Web site: Kazumasa Nagai. Kazumasa Nagai Exhibition at Imabashi Gallery. 1969 MoMA. 2021-01-08. The Museum of Modern Art. en.