MARUKI Toshi

1912-2000, born in Hokkaido. Maruki Toshi studied Western-style painting at the Women’s School of Fine Arts (now Joshibi University of Art and Design). After graduating, she spent time in Moscow and in Japanese-governed Micronesia, mastering dynamic brushwork and a fluid, volumetric approach to depicting the human form. In 1941, she married the Japanese-style painter Maruki Iri, who inspired her to begin experimenting with ink. Soon after the atomic bombing, the couple visited Hiroshima, and the experience led them to produce the Hiroshima Panels (1950–82), a collaborative series combining Iri’s bold ink wash techniques with Toshi’s delicate renderings of the human figure. Throughout their lives, they continued to work together to depict the human suffering caused by war and environmental devastation in paintings such as Minamata (1980) and The Battle of Okinawa (1984–87).