Name: Takeshi Motai - A Piece of Memory
SKU: 978-4768308615
Availability: OutOfStock

This book is a collection of about 200 works, including Takeshi Motai’s masterpiece picture book ” Gauche the Cellist”, a visionary picture book painted in Paris, picture stories, and drawings he did with his own children, providing a complete book of Motai’s work.

Traveling picture books, wandering poems, the brilliance of childhood, and pictures that tell a story introduce the charm of Motai’s work, following the transition of time and touch.

Despite being hailed as a genius, Motai Takeshi passed away at the young age of 48 after a short career.

In his 20s, Motai traveled to France on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and while working at a Japanese association in Paris, he taught himself to paint, capturing his daily life in a drawing book.

After returning to Japan, he worked at various jobs before beginning to draw illustrations for Shin Seinen, a magazine for adults.

During the 10 years after the war, he worked on an enormous amount of work, mainly for children’s books, and in his later years, he continued to draw pictures in his hospital bed.

Motai’s warm brushstrokes and poetic motifs continue to attract many fans today.

[Contributed by]
Yoshitomo Nara / Yuko Ohnari / Kenji Oikawa (100% ORANGE) / Ken Katayama / Yuki Sasameya / Ryoji Arai / Motoyuki Shibata

[Appendix] Handmade picture book “Children of Paris”

*This book is a long-awaited reprint of ” Takeshi Motai Museum of Art: Kioku no Kakera” published by Kodansha Ltd. in 2008.
The cover and cover image have been renewed.

Category：Japanese Art Book, Japanese Illustration Book, Japanese Picture Book

Tag：drawing, Gauche the Cellist, painting, sketch

Pages：: 160
ISBN：: 978-4768308615
Release Date:: May, 2017
Language:: Japanese
Publisher:: Genkosha

Author profile

Takeshi Motai

1908-1956
Born as the second son of an inn in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. His birthplace was completely destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake. He went to France in ’30 after working at the Taiheiyo Art Association Institute. While he worked for the Japanese Association in Paris, he self-taught and drew his daily life in a picture book. After returning to Japan, he changed jobs and started drawing illustrations for the adult magazine “Shinseinen”. He is noted for his dark and bewitching style, such as “The Iron Mask of the 20th Century” (Mushitaro Oguri / text).

In his children’s book, “Nani Nani Ehon” in 1991 was his first job. Especially in the 10 years after the war, he worked on a huge amount of work, focusing on children’s books. In 1954, he won the Shogakukan Children’s Culture Award for his work in his picture magazine “Kinder Book”. One of his masterpieces of picture books is “Sero Hiki no Gauche”. Many of his works have disappeared, but his simple poetry and fantasy, nostalgia and humorous paintings have left a great mark on the publishing art world and have influenced him.