Rating and value of drawings and paintings by Kazuo Shiraga

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Style and technique of Kazuo Shiraga 

To bring his abstract paintings to life, Shiraga flies over the canvas, his feet coated with paint, rocking back and forth in a pendulum motion, and smears the canvas on the floor with his footprints. While he admires the aesthetic rendering of Jackson Pollock's dripping, Shiraga gives texture and depth to his splashes and swirls. In so doing, he explores the relationship between the body and paint.

" The Japanese man who painted with his feet " 

 Kazuo Shiraga was born in Amagasaki in 1924. Under the guidance of his father, he developed a passion for painting from an early age. He began training as a painter at the age of thirteen and discovered an encouraging talent. However, in 1944, Shiraga was forced to abandon his brushes to go and fight the Allies in the Second World War to serve his homeland. The climax of the war in Japan came when the country was set on fire by the explosion of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

After this seismic catastrophe, Shiraga continued his artistic studies at the Kyoto Professional Painting School and returned safely to his canvases. In a grief-stricken Japan trying to rebuild, Shiraga nevertheless escaped death from severe pneumonia. In 1952, he founded the Zero-Kai movement with his friends Saburô Murakami, Akira Kanayama and Atsuko Tanaka.

These four artists displayed a libertarian style that played with conventions, approaching an ever more corporeal and conceptual painting.

How Shiraga made his mark 

Originally, Shiraga painted with a palette knife, then transited to using his fingernails, and finally, he found his singular style by painting canvases with his feet.

In 1955, the Zero-Kai movement took the name " Gutai ", a term derived from "gutaiteki" in Japanese, which can be translated as "concrete". This paradigm shift can be seen as a refusal to be affiliated with abstract art. While Shiraga paints with his own body, we now know where the Cohen brothers got their inspiration for the Maude Lebowski character. Shiraga was spotted by French critic Michel Tapié during an exhibition, who suggested he join the movement to which he belonged, Art Informel. This meeting between the two artists, each overseeing the artistic movement to which they belonged, was to be decisive in the spread and renown of Gutaï on the international art scene.

He also organized mud jousts, always in this desire to mark his supports with his bodily imprints. What counts for Shiraga is less the final result of the work than the path and process of creation, the essence of his art, which becomes a form of catharsis. In 1971, Shiraga withdrew to a Buddhist monastery, which had a profound influence on his painting, tinting it with a resolutely spiritual tone. He retains his unique technique of painting with his feet, but no longer takes to the stage, abandoning the performance and public scene that characterized Gutai. He now paints at home with his wife.

FAQ – How do you appraise a work by Kazuo Shiraga?

1) What stylistic criteria specific to Kazuo Shiraga are key?

For this artist, the analysis focuses on the dynamics of the gesture, the thickness of the paint, and the traces of the body in the painting, as the artist is known for his floor-based compositions, which are characteristic of the Gutai movement.

2) How important is the Gutai period in determining value?

Works from the 1950s and 1960s, corresponding to Shiraga’s active participation in the Gutai group, are particularly sought after due to their historical significance in the emergence of gestural abstraction in Japan.

3) How does the condition of the work influence its valuation?

The condition of the painting’s surface (cracks, lifting of paint, deterioration of the support) is particularly important given the thickness and experimental nature of the materials used.

How to recognize Kazuo Shiraga's signature

Shiraga signs most of the time at the bottom right of his paintings, sometimes in Japanese character, sometimes in Western character and sometimes even both.

How to find out the value of a work by Kazuo Shiraga

If you happen to own a work by Kazuo Shiraga, don't hesitate to request a free appraisal via our form on our website. An auctie's member will contact you promptly with an estimate of the value of your work, as well as providing you with all the relevant information. If you are considering selling your work, you will also be accompanied by our specialists in order to benefit from alternatives for selling it at the best possible price.