Osaka marks 120th anniversary of painter Katsuta Suda with major retrospective

Japanese painter Katsuta Suda (1906-1990) is the subject of a retrospective in Osaka marking the 120th anniversary of his birth. The exhibition, titled "I Want to Become Form!", opens October 16 at the Enoco Center for Culture and Creativity in the Awaza district and runs through November 14. It brings together works from the Osaka prefectural collection alongside pieces held in private hands.

Born in 1906 in Saitama Prefecture, Suda taught himself to paint before gaining recognition in Japan's official salon exhibitions. In his mid-thirties he relocated to the Kansai region, a move that proved pivotal. There he met the monk Kaiun Kamitsukasa of Tōdai-ji's Kannon-in temple and joined the circle of artists gathered around him, including painter Saburō Hasegawa (1906-1957), whose influence shaped his subsequent output. From then on, Suda moved fluidly between abstract and figurative painting for the rest of his career.

Beyond his canvases, Suda became widely known to Japanese audiences through his illustrations for writer Ryōtarō Shiba's travel essays "On the Road" (Kaidō o Yuku), serialized in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper from 1971 to 1996. That collaboration helped extend his reach far beyond the art world.

The free exhibition occupies Rooms 1 through 3 on the fourth floor of the Enoco center. Accompanying events include an October 17 talk by artist Katsushige Nakahashi on Suda's concept of "form," and an October 25 workshop led by Nana Kuromiya exploring the painter's textural techniques.

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Written by the ADM desk based on 美術手帖. Read the original article for the full story.