Born: 1891 Mizuho Village (now Iiyama City), Japan
Died: 1972 Iiyama City, Japan
Year of Migration to the UK: 1914
Other name/s: Takezo Sato , Takezou Sato , Sato Takezo
Biography
Artist Také Sato was born in Mizuho Village (present-day Iiyama City), Nagano Prefecture, Japan, in 1891. From an early age, he demonstrated a strong aptitude for art. In 1907, he participated in a summer watercolour workshop led by renowned painter Maruyama Banka, whose influence proved decisive. The following year, Sato moved to Tokyo, where he studied Western-style painting at Maruyama’s Japan Watercolor Institute (Nihon Suisaiga Kenkyūjo) while working during the day as a lithography printer at the Seibido Printing Company. He also received drawing instruction from the sculptor Ogiwara Morie (Rokuzan), who encouraged him to study in Europe.
In 1914, at the age of 23, Sato travelled to England to further his training. He enrolled at Chelsea School of Art (now Chelsea College of Arts, UAL), where he studied oil painting and absorbed a broad range of Western artistic influences. During his early years in Britain, Sato supported himself by restoring antiques and repairing furniture, utilising his fine manual skills, while developing his personal style as a painter. Sato rapidly distinguished himself through a unique method of painting on silk, using colours derived from crushed precious and semi-precious minerals. Drawing on Japanese traditions, he developed a gelatin-based medium into which he blended finely ground pigments from coral, lapis lazuli, peacock stone, and amber. Depending on the degree of grinding, these materials could produce different hues—coarsely crushed peacock stone yielded a vivid blue, while a finer grind produced brilliant greens. These pigments, many sourced from Japan, resulted in works of unusual brilliance and delicacy that stood out in the British art world.
Sato’s early recognition came in 1915, when two of his silk paintings were selected for the Royal Institute exhibition in London. His reputation continued to grow through the 1920s and 1930s, with successful solo exhibitions at the New Burlington Galleries, St George’s Gallery in Hanover Square, Connell’s Gallery in Old Bond Street, and galleries in Worthing, Sussex, and in Brussels. His 1920 exhibition was described in the London Daily Chronicle as containing ‘wonderful specimens’ of Japanese silk painting, praising his depictions of both Japanese subjects—such as June in Japan—and English scenes such as Spring in Battersea Park, seen ‘from an Oriental point of view’ (10 February 1920). Reviewers repeatedly highlighted Sato’s poetic handling of landscapes and still life. The Worthing Herald (21 February 1934) admired his integration of Eastern and Western traditions and his individuality, noting his decision not to imitate English landscape painters. His paintings of Fujiyama appeared in many forms—moonlit, snow-covered, or ‘above the clouds’—while English landscapes, such as the dunes and golf links at Rye, demonstrated his ability to depict local subjects with a subtly Japanese sensibility. Critics also praised his flower paintings for their elegance and restraint, in which compositional simplicity was combined with richly detailed execution. In 1921, he was commissioned to design the cover of a special edition of The Times to mark the visit of Crown Prince Hirohito to Britain.
After a decade in England, Sato returned to Japan in 1924, partly prompted by the Great Kantō Earthquake. In Tokyo, he held a solo exhibition at the Matsuya department store gallery in Ginza and submitted works to major art societies. However, his hybrid style—combining watercolour, decorative composition, and silk support—did not easily fit into Japan’s dominant artistic categories and was met with lukewarm critical response. Nevertheless, he continued to work and experiment, developing a growing interest in lacquer, particularly traditional Japanese urushi. In 1932, Sato returned to England for a second period. He began creating what he called Zuishitsu-ga (‘auspicious lacquer paintings’), blending lacquer’s glossy texture with painted motifs. His mastery of this medium led to prestigious commissions, including lacquer panels and cabinets for the luxury ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary. He also continued to exhibit in London, including at the Royal Academy (1935, 1936, 1938) and Connell Galleries (1933, 1934).
With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and escalating geopolitical tensions between Japan and the Allied powers, Sato, as a Japanese national, found it increasingly difficult to remain in Britain. He returned to his native Nagano Prefecture in 1939, where he remained active in the local art community. He exhibited his lacquer works during the war and taught in the region, serving as a juror for the Shinshu Art Exhibition and the Nagano Prefectural Art Exhibition. In 1944, he evacuated to the hot springs village of Shibu Onsen, where he continued to create and refine his lacquer techniques. Though somewhat removed from the post-war Tokyo art scene, Sato continued to exhibit and work into the 1950s and 1960s. Také Sato died on 14 March 1972 in Japan. Retrospective exhibitions in Nagano Prefecture, marking the 40th and 50th anniversaries of his death, have renewed appreciation for his pioneering cross-cultural vision. His work is not currently represented in UK public collections.
Related books
- ‘Hide Park de Luxe’, Bradford Observer, 17 October 1936, p. 10
- Exhibition of Silk Paintings by Také Sato: Landscapes of Denmark and Hyde Park (London: James Connell & Sons, 1936)
- ‘Take Sato’, Worthing Herald, 23 February 1935, p. 14
- Take Sato Exhibition: Silk Paintings, Lacquer Paintings, Lacquered Etchings (London: James Connell & Sons, 1934)
- ‘Through Japanese Eyes’, Worthing Gazette, 21 February 1934, p. 7
- Lady Kate, ‘Take Sato and His Paintings’, Worthing Herald, 24 February 1934, p. 7
- ‘A Technical Talk’, Worthing Herald, 24 February 1934, p. 21
- ‘A Japanise Artist’s Works’, Worthing Gazette, 21 February 1934, p. 7
- Exhibition of Japanese Water Colours by Take Sato (London: James Connell & Sons, 1933)
- ‘Paintings on Silk’, Daily News, 20 October 1933, p. 13
- ‘Notes on Art and Artists’, Daily Express, 24 May 1926, p. 3
- Watercolours of Japan by Také Sato (London: St. George's Gallery, 1926)
- ‘Precious Stone as Pigment’, Westminster Gazette, 19 May 1926, p. 5
- ‘Mr Take Sato’s Exhibition’, Leeds Mercury, 3 October 1922, p. 6
- ‘Modern British Art’, 31 March 1922, p. 15
- Také Sato Exhibition (London: St. George's Gallery, 1922)
- ‘Painter’, Sunday Mirror, 3 April 1921, p. 8
- ‘Painting from Pounded Stone’, London Daily Chronicle, 10 February 1920, p. 4
- ‘Colour from Stone’, Liverpool Daily Post, 11 February 1920, p. 10
- 'Portrait of Gonneske Komai', Colour Magazine, Vols 8-9, August 1918, p. 24
Related organisations
- Chelsea School of Art (student)
- Maruyama’s Japan Watercolor Institute (student)
Related web links
- 2012 Special Exhibition: Takézou Sato – Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of His Death, Nagano Prefectural Cultural Promotion Foundation, article in Japanese
- Europeana, 'Unique Japanese Art'
- ‘Sixty Pictures Sold at Chicago Exhibit’, American Art News, Vol. 20, No. 31, Internet Archive
- ‘Takezou Sato 50th Anniversary Exhibition: A Retrospective of Works Beloved in His Hometown’, article in Japanese, Iiyama City
Selected exhibitions
- Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (1938, 1936, 1935)
- Take Sato. Silk Paintings of Hyde Park, Connell Galleries, London (1936)
- Take Sato. Lacquer Paintings and Silk Paintings, Connell Galleries, London (1934)
- Japanese Watercolours by Take Sato, The Little Gallery, Worthing, Sussex (1934)
- Take Sato. Japanese Watercolours, Connell Galleries, London (1933)
- Watercolours of Japan by Take Saato, St George Gallery, London (1926)
- Paintings on Silk of Bruges and the Thames by Take Sato, St George's Gallery, London (1922)
- Colour Magazine exhibition, Grosvenor Galleries, London (1922)
- Solo Exhibition, New Burlington Galleries, London (1920)
- Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, London (1915)
