OGUISS Takanori

Takanori Oguiss (1901-1986), Japanese painter based in Paris, renowned for his street views, facades, and old Parisian shops. Exhibition lithograph poster.

Takanori Oguiss, a Japanese Perspective on the Streets of Paris

Takanori Oguiss (1901-1986) was a Japanese painter who dedicated most of his life to Paris. His street views, facades, and old shops, painted in a warm palette with a vibrant touch, make him one of the greatest painters of 20th-century Paris, alongside Utrillo, whom he admired.

Milestones

• 1901: born in Inazawa, near Nagoya.
• 1927: arrived in Paris after studying at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.
• 1930s: studio at the foot of Montmartre.
• During the war: returned to Japan.
• 1948: settled permanently in Paris.
• 1986: the artist passed away, resting in Montmartre Cemetery.

From Tokyo to Montmartre

After studying at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Takanori Oguiss arrived in Paris in 1927, like many Japanese artists of his generation, including his friend Léonard Foujita. Initially settled in Montparnasse, he discovered the paintings of Maurice Utrillo, which deeply influenced him. In the 1930s, he occupied a studio at the foot of Montmartre and devoted himself to painting the old districts of the capital.

The Painter of Paris Streets

Returning to France in 1948 after the war years spent in Japan, Oguiss tirelessly painted the old streets, squares, haberdasheries, wine merchants, wood and coal shops, and flower markets. His paintings, often with frontal framing, are animated with signs, letters, and bold colors. He also traveled to Venice, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Ghent. A museum is dedicated to him in his hometown of Inazawa, where his Parisian studio has been recreated.

A Palette and a Style

What strikes in Oguiss's work is the attention to surfaces: weathered walls, chipped shutters, shop windows, half-peeled posters, painted letters of signs. He renders them with rich texture and a warm palette of ochres, browns, muted reds, and off-whites. His compositions, often frontal and almost devoid of figures, possess the serenity of an urban still life. As an heir to Utrillo, he adds a Japanese sensitivity to detail and silence, giving his Paris a unique poetry.

Choosing a Work by Takanori Oguiss

His lithographed exhibition posters faithfully capture his views of Paris and offer a beautiful way to bring a piece of the past capital into your home. They pair particularly well with a warm interior, an entrance, or an office. Each work offered by the gallery is precisely described and sold with an invoice-certificate.

Takanori Oguiss at Galerie 125

The gallery offers above the lithographed poster of his exhibition at Galerie Vision nouvelle, Paris, in 1978, measuring 78 x 52 cm. A beautiful image of Paris by one of its greatest interpreters, carefully shipped, tracked, and insured. Other Paris painters and Japanese artists to discover: Gen Paul, André Hambourg, and Shoichi Hasegawa.

Do you own a work by Takanori Oguiss and wish to sell it? Learn how to proceed on our Sell a Work page.