1959.49 Manabu Mabe, Sakhuin, 1959

Along with many fellow Japanese in the 1930s, Manabu Mabe immigrated to southern Brazil as a young boy. During the day, Mabe and his family worked on the coffee plantations, and in the evenings he continued his Japanese education. His academic and literary training were critical to his formation as an artist, as demonstrated by his use of calligraphic brushstrokes in later works. In Sakuhin, the artist methodically builds up layers of paint saturated in diluents such as kerosene and turpentine. The result is a strikingly smooth surface with minimal texture. Working with highly diluted pigments allowed Mabe to modify the shapes that emerged in his work by rubbing and smearing forms until satisfied.

Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.

Mabe_Manabu: ULAN: 500103221

Kumamoto (inhabited place / Japan): TGN: 7004598

Japan (nation): TGN: 1000120

Brazil: TGN: 1000047

São Paulo (state / Brazil): TGN: 1001945

São Paulo (inhabited place / Brazil): TGN: 7017121

oil paint: AAT: 300015050

board: AAT: 300014616

composition wood board (composition board): AAT: 300411316

painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618

immigrants: AAT: 300025844

coffee (food / dye): AAT: 300254662 

plantations (agricultural complexes): AAT: 300000240

education: AAT: 300054360

literature (humanities): AAT: 300054273

calligraphy (process): AAT: 300053162

calligraphy (visual works): AAT: 300266660

brush strokes: AAT: 300185434

layers (components): AAT: 300226788

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

paint layers: AAT: 300178450

thinner (solvent / diluents): AAT: 300014729

kerosene (aliphatic hydrocarbon / hydrocarbon solvent): AAT: 300015267

turpentine (oil / solvent): AAT: 300015288

smooth (smoothness / texture): AAT: 300056364

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

form (composition concepts): AAT: 300056272

geometric shape: AAT: 300263819

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509

curves (geometric figures): AAT: 300378887

curvilinear (shape): AAT: 300154222

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

squares (geometric figures): AAT: 300055637

From 1959: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Art Association Purchase, purchased from the artist [1], [2], [3], [4]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.  

[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Manabu Mabe to Jerry Bywaters, Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (dated April 06, 1960, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The main source for this provenance is letter (inventory list) (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[4] The Dallas Art Association is the predecessor to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name was abandoned in 1970. Works from this collection were transferred to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Apply to objects where number equals 1959.49