Masuo Ikeda -『ミックスド・フルーツ』アップル (Mixed Fruits - Apple)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Lithograph

A fabulous lithograph by Masuo Ikeda: 『ミックスド・フルーツ』アップル (Mixed Fruits - Apple). A reclining female nude fills the composition, drawn in Ikeda’s loose, expressive line against a dark ground with red, orange and ochre accents. The title links the image directly to the wider erotic language of the Mixed Fruits series. A strong image from Ikeda’s celebrated 1976 portfolio. 🍎

• Year & Edition: 1976 · Ed. of 50 (25/50) (signed, editioned & dated in pencil).
• Series: 『ミックスド・フルーツ』(Mixed Fruits).
• Medium: Lithograph on Arches paper · printed by Hitoshi Takatsuki.
• Dimensions: Sheet approx. H: 58.00 cm × W: 45.00 cm.
• Condition: Fabulous. Bright, clean colours. Paper crisp & intact. Light surface handling to the right leg.
• Notes: Mixed Fruits was produced in 1976 as a portfolio of nine erotic lithographs, published by Nantenshi Gallery in Tokyo and accompanied by poetry. Originally conceived under the title Fruit Punch, the series combines fruit imagery with Ikeda’s distinctive treatment of the nude figure - humorous, sexual and surreal. Apple and other works from Mixed Fruits are held by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, while an artist’s proof of Apple is held by the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. *Two original blind-embossed chop marks to paper. Catalogue Raisonné No. 618, 池田満寿夫全版画 (Masuo Ikeda Prints), Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, 1991.

About the Artist

Masuo Ikeda (1934-1997) was one of postwar Japan’s most internationally celebrated printmakers, known for inventive and often erotic works across etching, drypoint and lithography. In 1965 he became the first Japanese artist to receive a solo exhibition at MoMA, New York, followed by the Grand Prize for Printmaking at the 1966 Venice Biennale. A relentlessly experimental artist, Ikeda later worked across painting, ceramics, film and literature, winning Japan’s prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1977. [ ← View All Works by Masuo Ikeda]