3 Illustrations for "Killed By Roses" (A Book Of Portraits Of Yukio Mishima)
Tadanori Yokoo
Japanese, born 1936
1969
An offset lithograph by Tadanori Yokoo that condenses Yukio Mishima’s theatrical, conflicted masculinity into a single, intense image of a red-painted back and clasped hands.
You’re struck by the flat, vivid red of the torso, the shocking yellow fingernails and meticulous black-line body hair set against a calm seascape, which creates an oddly tense, theatrical tableau.
Made at the height of 1960s Japanese pop and psychedelic graphic design, the print fused traditional printmaking with confrontational color and eroticized imagery to reinvent book portraiture and cultural commentary.
Medium
Offset lithograph
Dimensions
Each: 15 x 15" (38.1 x 38.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the designer
Accession
204.1973.1-3
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
