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MILT KOBAYASH & SHEANA

As Bohemia Galleries of York is preparing for its second major exhibition of international best selling artist Milt Kobayashi, the owners Steve & Sheana Eccles have taken this opportunity to speak with Milt and get his own insight into his work and developments over the last couple of years.

A third generation Japanese-American, Kobayashi was born in New York City, soon after that his family moved to Oahu, Hawaii, and then ventured to Los Angeles when he was eight. After receiving his B.A. in 1970 from the University of California - Los Angeles, Kobayashi began working as an illustrator. After returning to New York City, a casual visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art permanently altered Kobayashi's artistic direction and prompted a career change. There he saw Velazquez's portrait Juan de Paraja. In Milt Kobayashi’s intimate, urban paintings, time stands still. Yet, the expressive narrative flows and ebbs with a rhythmic cadence of colour and the brevity of the artist’s brushstrokes. He distils the essence of a casual moment or a late-night mood to the point that the imagery itself engages the audience in an intriguing dialogue. With merely a hint of detail and the simplicity of a single brushstroke, Kobayashi has perfected his fine art of subtlety.

The dramas of life's simple events are the perfect settings for Milt to express his brushwork. His brush is meant to be seen closely. The turn of his stroke here or there breaths life into these subtle moments, inviting, and drawing you in. Thus far he has presented his themes on smaller canvases, but he is starting to turn to larger works as he contemplates more involved spatial relationships.

While Japanese art has always been his focus, it was always infused with his western aesthetics, artists who he immersed himself in. Tonal realists like Sergeant, Chase, Sorolla, and Velasquez. But his Asian roots always brings him back to spatial compositions, and he is once again involved in those aesthetics of vignette narratives, now with Thomas Dewing and Klimt or Schiele, but with stronger colour accents, sometimes harmonic sometimes discordant, and always trying to surprise. But even here, the surprises are subtle and small, so again he asks you to look very closely because it is there waiting to be found."
Kobayashi himself a creature of the city at night, is drawn to the same foreboding, nocturnal scenes that magnetized Toulouse-Lautrec. Known for his urban cafe and bar scenes which dominated his work in the 90's, he has moved to the non-smoking section and is gravitating toward quieter settings -- an afternoon tearoom, a milliner's shop, the tranquillity of a private home. Still a tonalist, he admits to a growing freedom in his use of colour. The intricacies in fabrics and accessories fade as patches of stronger colour emerge. Backgrounds of red or green and the artist's extensive use of black intensify his compositional use of negative space and serve to focus attention on atmosphere.

While he is less and less a painter of details, it is the hint of detail that most intrigues us, and Milt Kobayashi has perfected the fine art of subtlety.

Milt finds that the best way for him to experiment with new work, new techniques and new approaches to colour is through the workshops he teaches. “It’s my opportunity to experiment” says Kobyashi, “I take that back to my easel in New York City because I will do things in a seminar that I will not think about doing while working in my studio. Demonstrations give me a chance to break out and how I break out is through colour. Ideas also flow in an interesting way because everything has to happen quickly and I have to think on the spot and what emerges sometimes surprises even me. I learned everything I know today from my own observations. I am very pragmatic, I feel you ingest everything you need to know and no one can teach you better than you to yourself.


British art correspondent, Godfrey Barker wrote of Kobayashi, "Milt Kobayashi's compositions are wicked in their education, wicked in their skilful calculation and wickedly clever in their balance, their tonal contrasts and their negative space. In short, we're looking at an unusually professional and well-sourced artist, cultivated in a manner uncommon in the desert of Disney that is modern America. He's apart from his age and we need to see more of him!" (London Evening Standard.)

Kobayashi has received two major awards: the National Academy of Design's Ranger Purchased Award and the Allied Arts Silver Medal. His work has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, and Reader's Digest magazines. His work was featured at the Artist of America show in Denver, CO for several years and he has had many sold out shows throughout the United States and England.


Bohemia Galleries are proud to represent Milt Kobayashi in Europe. They have been exhibiting work by Milt for six years and continue to have a waiting list for new paintings. Their next solo show for Milt opens on Saturday the 16th October and runs through to the 30th October. Unfortunately Milt will not be able to attend. Due to ill health earlier in the year he fell behind in his painting commitments and although he is now fine he is still catching up and honouring his show.

Contact Sheana Eccles tel.07880747454 for details or email sheana@a-r-t.co.uk.


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Careful Look

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 20" x 20"

 

 

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Daydreamer

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"

Product Code: MKBG00802

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Body Rest

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Drama

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"

SOLD

 

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Ballerina in Pink

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"

Product Code: MKBG00805

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Sarah

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"

Product Code: MKBG00806

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Such a Quiet Setting

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 9"

Product Code: MKBG00807

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Stripes

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 14"

 

 

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Four Bottles

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 16" x 14"

SOLD

 

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Cat Pictures

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 17" x 22"

 

 

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Bessie's Stripped Shirt

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 14"

 

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: ADJOINING TABLES

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 14"

 

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Resting with her Cat

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 14" x 12"

 

 

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Hand to Face

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"

 

SOLD


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Seated-Waiting.

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 16"

 


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Sarah C.

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 10" x 10"


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Olde English

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 8" x 8"



 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Feline Eyes.

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 10"

SOLD


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Little Girls and Quiet Time

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 10" x 14"


SOLD


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: The Antiques Collectables

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 8"


SOLD


 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Touch Up

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 12" x 12"

 

SOLD

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Boy with Book

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size:14" x 10"



 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: The Bar Table

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 14" x 22"

SOLD

 

 

Artist: Milt Kobayashi

Title: Dance in Central Park

Medium: Original Oil on Canvas

Price: POA (Framed)
0% finance available

Image Size: 28" x 40"

 

 

 

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