Katsu Hamanaka (1895 - 1982)

Katsu Hamanaka

Katsu Hamanaka is a Japanese artist. He studied applied arts in Tokyo, notably with the great Japanese lacquerer, Katsutaro Yamazaki. Attracted by the West, Hamanaka went to France in 1924 with his wife, where he came into contact with master lacquerer Seizo Sugawara with whom he deepened his traditional Japanese lacquer technique. Passionate about working with lacquer, Hamanaka chooses to practice this art in the purest Japanese craft tradition. His style was, in its beginnings, inspired by traditional Japanese geometric patterns. From 1929, Hamanaka began to exhibit his work regularly in Parisian salons (Salon des Artistes Indépendants, Salon d'Automne, Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, Salon des Tuileries, etc.). It mainly presents Japanese lacquer screens, more rarely monumental decorative panels and pieces of furniture in collaboration with fashionable decorators at the time. Between a traditional technique of exceptional quality and a resolutely modern style, Hamanaka was acclaimed by critics and notably received the Grand Prix for his monumental panel representing The Three Graces presented at the 1937 International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Paris.

Date and place of birt:	1895, Japan
Date and place of death:	1982
Nationality:	France, Japan
Period of activity:	XX century
Specialization:	Artist, Designer, Furniture maker, Painter
Art style:	Contemporary art
Technique:	Lacquer
Medium:	Lacquered wood, Sycamore, Wood