Greenfields

At lower left, a tight cluster of houses is set along the same plane as a plateau running to the right; in the distance are gentle hills of a comparable height, and beyond that taller mountains in blue. In the basin between them we see the broad green fields that give Nagai’s monoprint its name, a space that with a change of color could be a lake. Tiny dots of yellow and orange across the fields may indicate houses on the opposite side, in which case the basin is massive. Subtle etchings in the paint convey ground contours, brush, and tree foliage—the grassfields are a fine-grained texture of their own.

About the Artist:

Born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, Nagai immigrated to the US in 1906, initially with a plan to study law but soon returning to his love of art—a grandfather and uncle both had been painters. In New York he studied at the Art Students’ League with Thomas Hart Benton for five years, whose influence can be seen in Nagai’s “Picnic” (1929) with its treatment of massy figures arranged in deep space. In 1928 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s art critic, Helen Appleton Read, singled out Nagai’s painting “Tea” as one of three “discoveries” from more than 1,000 exhibits at the Society of Independent Artists. He went on to exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Musuem of Art, and the ACA Gallery, among many venues. His “Japanese Landscape” appeared in a 1939 FAP exhibit on Long Island, focused upon farms and rural life; fellow NDG artists Louis Harris, Bena Frank, and Herman Copen also appeared. Many of In 1936 Nagai signed the Call for the American Artists’ Congress, an anti-fascist popular front organization. Near the end of his life Nagai and his artist wife Paula Rosen retired to Orlando, FL area. 1 work at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 2 more images at FAP.

Nagai, Tomizo (“Thomas”), 1886-1966

Monoprint

15.75 x 13 in.

Condition: needs remounting