Hiroshi Harada: the modesty of colour - Hardcover

Over 40 years ago Japanese painter Hiroshi Harada swapped his homeland for Paris, in search of a new artistic creative language and structure. Even though the rectangular doesn't exist in nature, it has always been Harada's ultimate ambition to express all facets of his private world within this well-defined shape. Therefore, his works cannot be seen as abstract in the strictest sense of the word. Harada stayed true to the monochrome, until one given day a burst of colour appeared in his black and white world; the sparkling yellow is typical in many of his works. The new vibrant colour palette confirmed that Harada has essentially always been looking for a way to give expression to his inner happiness, spirituality and joie de vivre. The artwork of Hiroshi Harada cannot possibly be captured in a single category. He is modern, not only in his way of painting, but also in the way he touches and overwhelms us with the exuberant colours from his inner repertoire, with lines and surfaces that intersect or not. Each of his paintings is an invitation to contemplation. In all, he stays true to his Eastern roots and the idea that beauty can be found in imperfection.

Gerard-Georges Lemaire, a writer, historian, and art critic, has organized more than 70 exhibitions in France and is the author of books on the Pre-Raphaelites, Futurism, and Franz Kafka, as well as many others.