Description

Attracted to the orderly structure of architecture and inspired by the reductive approach to form in the paintings of the Dutch modernist Piet Mondrian, Saito searched for the essentials of his subject, which he expressed in flat areas of color and pattern in bold and graceful designs. Saito's fascination with the prints of the European printmakers Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch is evident here in his inventive multidirectional use of wood grain to suggest varied patterns and textures in the costume and setting of this traditional Japanese girl.