Biography

– Personal History –

86 years of his life was dynamic.  Besides the activities as a professional Sumi-e artist, Saito taught at schools. The schools where he taught fine arts include Nagano Prefectural Jinjo Inekoki Elementary School, Nagano Prefectural Matsumoto Women’s High School (present Arigasaki High School), Soshin Girls’ School (private school; Kanagawa Prefecture), California College of Arts and Crafts (State of California, U.S.), Barclay, California State University

He was conscripted for Army at the time of World War II and he was sent to battlefields as a soldier. During World War II, he was called up to Japan Army when he was teaching art at Soshin Girls’ School in 1944.  He entered then the Imperial Japanese Army and served in the battle lines in northeastern China.  He was in northern Borneo when the war was ended in 1945.  He returned home in 1946 after released from prison of war.

During the period of half-a-century, Tatsuo Saito held over 100 exhibitions in various places mainly of Nagano Prefecture, his home region, and Tokyo. He also held exhibitions abroad, including the U.S., U.K. and the Netherlands.

– Biography –

Born in the early 20^th century, Tatsuo Saito spent about 70 years as professional Sumi-e artist in Japan and abroad.

Saito was born on July 21, 1913, in Azusagawa villege, presently Matsumoto city of Nagano Prefecture. He spent his childhood in his home town. After he graduated from the Second Junior High School of Matsumoto presently Agatagaoka High School, in 1931, he moved to Tokyo and entered Musashino Art College, currently Musashino Art University. 

After graduation from the Art College, Saito studied under Taikan Yokoyama and later Seison Maeda from 1935 to 1938.  He made a debut in the Japan Art Institute (Nihon Bijutsuin) and his work “A Choir” was selected for “Fine Work” at Autumn Exhibition of the Institute.  Since then, he sent his works to its exhibitions regularly as a member of the Institute until the middle of 1960’s. He later shifted his style of painting to Sumi-e and began to hold his own exhibitions in Japan.

In 1964 Saito visited Salt Lake City on a personal goodwill mission from her sister city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture, with the official backing of the former American ambassador, Dr. Edwin Reischauer.  He won the acclaim of Salt Lake City citizens.  His works were exhibited at various colleges, libraries, public schools and churches in Utah. His activity in Utah was the beginning of his long-lasting activities in various countries abroad.  In 1985 he held an exhibition of paintings of Japan and Scotland at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford in England, in the hope that it would deepen the friendly relations between the two countries.  In 1992, at the invitation of Center for Japanese and Korean Studies at Leiden University in the Netherland, he held Sumi-e exhibition titled “Japan and the Netherlands.”  In his late years he stayed in Paris for some months and created a number of sketches and paintings. He died in 2000 in Tokyo.

– Exhibitions –

The exhibitions in Japan include Hayashiya Department Store in Matumoto (1963), Nagano Tokyu Department Store (1983), Matumoto Inoue Department Store (1983), Hachijuni Cultural Foundation (1991), Ina-shi Cultural Hall (1991). The latter two exhibitions were held to celebrate completion of his life work – 100 landscapes of Shinano-no-kuni, and Musashino Municipal FF Civic Hall (1999).  The exhibition at FF Civic Hall turned to be the last exhibition in his life featuring sketches he created while travelling abroad.

The exhibitions abroad include Salt Lake City Library in Utah, for 120 works (1964); San Francisco Municipal Center for Japanese Culture (1968); Museum of State University of Oregon (1978) followed by travelling exhibitions to 24 museums across the States organized through Visual Art Resources; Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford in England (1985); National Leiden University in the Netherlands (1992). The countries either he travelled or stayed includes Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Korea and India.

– Books –

• 「Saito Tatuo Suiboku-ga 100 landscapes of Shinano-no-kuni」self-published in 1991
• Sumi-E Spirit in the hand of Tatuo Saito (Japanese-Style Ink Painting) authored by Robert C. Elder, published by Visual Arts Resources University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. 1980 written in English

– Photos –