Satoru Abe

Satoru Abe is an American painter and sculptor. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1926. He attended President William McKinley High School, where he took art lessons from Shirley Ximena Hopper Russell. In 1948, after spending a summer at the California School for Fine Arts, he decided to pursue an art career in New York City and attended the Art Students League of New York where he studied with George Grosz, Louis Bouche and Jon Carrol. He married a fellow student and returned to Hawaii in 1950 with his wife, Ruth, and daughter Gail. After returning to Hawaii, Abe met local artist Isami Doi, who would become a close friend and mentor, and began a series of copper work experiments with fellow artist Bumpei Akaji. In 1956, Abe returned to New York and found a creative home at The Sculpture Center, where his original work attracted the attention of gallery owners and others. In 1963, Abe was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Abe returned to Hawai'i in 1970.

Abe is best known for his sculptures of abstracted natural forms, many of which resemble trees. His sculptures may be seen in Honolulu at Aloha Stadium, Farrington High School and downtown First Hawaiian Bank. The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Hawaii State Art Museum are among the public collections holding works of Satoru Abe.

Selected works

'Wheel', Indian red granite sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1991, Hawaii State Art Museum

'Wheel', Indian red granite sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1991, Hawaii State Art Museum
'Enchanting Garden', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1983, President William McKinley High School, Honolulu

'Enchanting Garden', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1983, President William McKinley High School, Honolulu
'Aged Tree', copper, bronze and longan wood sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1976, Kauikeaouli Hale (courthouse), Honolulu, Hawaii

'Aged Tree', copper, bronze and longan wood sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1976, Kauikeaouli Hale (courthouse), Honolulu, Hawaii
Cut copper sculpture by Satoru Abe, Hawaii State Art Museum

Cut copper sculpture by Satoru Abe, Hawaii State Art Museum
'Five Trees', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1978, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

'Five Trees', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1978, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu
'Inverted Tree', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1973, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

'Inverted Tree', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1973, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu
'The Man', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1979, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

'The Man', copper and bronze sculpture by Satoru Abe, 1979, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

References

Clarke, Joan and Diane Dods, Artists/Hawaii, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1996, 2.
Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Satoru Abe, A Retrospective 1948-1998, Honolulu, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 1998.
Haar, Francis and Neogy, Prithwish, Artists of Hawaii: Nineteen Painters and Sculptors, University of Hawaii Press, 1974, 19-25.
Radford, Georgia and Warren Radford, Sculpture in the Sun, Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces, University of Hawaii Press, 1978, 91.
Yoshihara, Lisa A., Collective Visions, 1967-1997, [Hawaii] State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1997, 17.