On Saturday November 15th from 6-8pm, Beauregard Fine Art will present a collection of Sumi Ink works on paper and selected watercolors by the well known New York City painter Naoto Nakagawa. I was fortunate to make the acquaintance of this very well-known Japanese painter, Naoto Nakagawa, who lives and works in New York City. I was also extremely fortunate to be able to show and sell his work exclusively in New Jersey.

Nakagawa emerged on the New York art scene in 1962 at the age of eighteen and immersed himself in the modernist movement, painting in a mural sized Pop Art to hyper-realist style.( a retrospective of this work recently showed at White Box). This period of work is explosive in color and form and speaks to the viewer as would a Lichtenstein or Rosenquist painting.

Following the hard edge and explosive work derived from city life, Naoto chose to study nature and retreated to Vermont in the seventies. It was here that he began a study and reflection of nature that continues today. A retrospective of this work recently showed at Ethan Cohen Fine Art in NYC. Nakagawa has sold at auction through Sothebys and is part of many fine collections including The Museum of Modern Art,NYC, Morgan Stanley Co.Ltd, MIT, The Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan, The Baltimore Museum Of Art, The Phillips Collection and The Spencer Foundation to name a few.

Recently, Nakagawa decided to detract a bit from his paintings and revisit his Japanese roots submitting himself to the intensive training and mastery of ancient Sumi ink painting. Nakagawa took a temporary retreat from the modernist techniques of paintings to pursue an appreciation of old techniques of painting in an effort to gain new insights. This past summer I held a reception at his studio on Franklin Street in New York City in an effort to provide an intimate introduction to this talented painter.

Nakagawa has kindly allowed me to represent his Sumi ink works on paper. We have been in collaboration for 2 years to put together a special show of this work which will open at Beauregard Fine Art on November 15, 2008 from 6-8pm. Nakagawa suggested that I introduce this work prior to November to a small group of collectors from the Monmouth County area. So often at large shows the individual collector is not afforded the opportunity to talk with and review the art on an intimate level. This has been taking place over the course of the summer and it is my pleasure to now introduce him to the community at a special show at the gallery. The reception will take place at 109 East River Rd at Beauregard Fine Art on November 15, from 6-8pm and will be accompanied by wine and cheese. It is with pleasure that I invite you to meet this talented artist and amazing person.