Japanese Printmaker Kumi Sugai

As anyone familiar with our Pinterest account (or our archive content) is well aware, we kind of have a thing for unearthing vintage gems. So we were pretty psyched when Ryland’s internet searching led us to the Japanese printmaker Kumi Sugai, who died in 1996 but whose work remains completely contemporary and relevant today (and who we were unaware of until this month). Though born in Japan, Sugai was part of the first generation of Japanese artists to become acquainted with Western painting techniques, and he moved to Paris in his early 30s. Though heavily influenced by typography and traditional woodblocking techniques, Sugai’s work gradually evolved to include more abstract geometrics. We’re including a selection of our favorites below, but it’s well worth a Google Image search for some morning inspiration!