Year: 2018
Medium: oil crayon, pastel on paper
Dimensions: 81 x 66.7 cm (31 7/8 x 26 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022
Susumu Kamijo is best known for his series of paintings featuring poodles. While he initially portrayed the poodles’ fur with fine lines, the works have seen a gradual transition to greater distortion and simplification, with the paintings now featuring anthropomorphic facial expressions. Poodles are widely loved and have a long history as pets, including a range of preferred grooming styles and refinements to their size and physique through selective breeding. This breed seems to embody the history of dogs as companions for humans. The aesthetic sensibilities projected onto these dogs are also reflected in Kamijo's works. Perhaps this is expressed in how the figure of the poodle, seemingly more human-like than humans, can sometimes act as a mirror for us.
