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Teruko Yokoi (1924-2020), a distinguished Japanese-Swiss painter, traversed a remarkable artistic journey that spanned continents and decades. Born in Tsushima, Japan, her early passion for art led her to study under Kouki Suzuki, grounding her in traditional techniques. In 1949, she relocated to Tokyo, refining her skills at the Joshibi University of Art and Design and gaining recognition through prestigious art exhibitions like the Issuikaitan and Nitten.

Yokoi's thirst for artistic exploration propelled her to the United States in 1954, where she immersed herself in Western Modernism at the California School of Fine Arts, earning numerous awards and scholarships that would provide the backing to support her continued development as an artist. Teruko’s time in San Francisco marked a pivotal moment in her career, as she synthesized Eastern and Western influences into a distinctive visual language of her own. Her solo exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in 1955, followed by another solo exhibition at the same venue in 1956 further solidified her rising prominence.

The vibrant New York art scene beckoned Yokoi, and under the tutelage of Hans Hofmann and Julian Levi, she delved into Abstract Expressionism, a movement that resonated with her bold and expressive spirit. Her talent garnered recognition, including prizes at the Philadelphia Annual Exhibition and the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Biennial Exhibition.

Teruko’s career continued to flourish as she developed her signature motifs and refined her skills, drawing on influences from her teachers, peers, childhood in Tsushima and social circles she inhabited in San Francisco, New York, and eventually Paris and Tokyo. Movements within abstraction such as color field and action painting are represented in her early works as she experimented with these styles. Natural abstraction, with its heavy emphasis on landscape and the environment remained foundational throughout her career, along with influences of calligraphy, haiga and other forms of Japanese poetry and flowy motion established in her early works.

In 1958, Teruko married fellow abstract artist Sam Francis, and in 1960, they moved to Paris, where Yokoi continued to engage with the avant-garde. Influences of Art Informel and permutations of her experimentation with abstraction began to appear during this period as she worked on some of her masterpieces that would eventually be shown at major solo shows and retrospective in London, Japan, New York and Switzerland. Teruko and Sam also had some influence on each other as Sam was entering his period of Japanese and Western influence in the 1960s and Teruko was showing at Minami Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery and at the ICA show in London.

However, it was her move to Bern, Switzerland, in 1962 that marked the beginning of a long and fruitful chapter in her life. She became an integral part of the Swiss art scene, exhibiting regularly at Galerie Kornfeld and participating in significant shows like the Kunsthalle Basel Exhibition, Berner Kunstausstellung at Kunsthalle Bern and her final retrospective at Kunstmuseum Bern in 2020. In 1991, she solidified her ties to Switzerland by obtaining Swiss nationality and citizenship of Bern. Although regularly showing in Switzerland after settling in Bern, Teruko continued to show in group shows and major exhibitions in Japan, Los Angeles, and Germany.

Yokoi's oeuvre is characterized by abstract expressionist compositions that often evoke the natural world through recurring motifs and forms. The Diamond form is one that continuously occurs throughout her career and across mediums, emphasizing the iportace she placed on these motifs and symbolism in her work. Her style, a harmonious blend of symbolic and naturalistic elements, reflects a profound engagement with themes of memory, time, nature, and light. The interplay of abstraction and representation in her paintings invites multiple interpretations, showcasing the perceptual effects of nature while remaining open to symbolic readings.

The establishment of two museums in Japan dedicated to her work, the Teruko Yokoi Hinageshi Art Museum in Ena and the Yokoi Teruko Fuji Museum of Art in Fuji, is a testament to her enduring legacy and the profound impact she made on the art world.

Yokoi's artistic trajectory serves as an embodiment of the power of cross-cultural exchange and relentless artistic pursuit. Throughout her career, Teruko has shown resilience in her struggles as a woman artist, a divorcee, and a single mother, breaking ceiling after ceiling while never holding another profession in her adult life. Her ability to harmonize Eastern and Western traditions, creating a unique and compelling visual language, cements her status as a trailblazer in modern art. Her work continues to inspire and challenge viewers, reminding us of the boundless possibilities of artistic expression.

BIOGRAPHY

TSUSHIMA TO TOKYO, JAPAN

1924 - Teruko Yokoi is born on April Second, 1924, in Tsushima, Aichi-Prefecture, Japan.

1930 - She receives oil painting lessons from Kouki Suzuki from an early age.

1930s - Her father, a calligraphist and teacher, takes young Teruko on walks to the Kiso River near Tsushima, composing Haikus with her while walking in nature. Teruko often spoke about how much she enjoyed these walks and how they were formative to her development as an artist.

1939 – Teruko is chosen to participate at the Tokai Art Exhibition near Nagoya.

1949 - Teruko moves to Tokyo to study at the T. Kinoshita Art School under impressionist painter Takanori Kinoshita.

1950 - Teruko shows and wins a prize at the 12th Issuikaiten exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1951 - Teruko shows and wins prizes at the 13th Issuikaiten and 7th Nitten group exhibitions at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1954 – Running out of opportunities to further her career as a modern woman artist in post-war Japan, Teruko boards the Atami Maru commanded by Captain Kazuichi Murakami on an 11-day journey to San Francisco to move to the city and study fine art.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

1954 - Shortly after moving to San Francisco, Teruko enters the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California (later becoming the San Francisco Art Institute) on sponsorship to study Western Modernism. She receives a Top Honor Scholarship from the school's Fine Arts Department to continue her studies.

1955 - In April, Teruko wins the fourth-place prize at the 74th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition at the San Franciso Museum of Art - eventually becoming the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA) in 1975.

1955 - In May, Teruko receives the New York - Japan Society Fellowship.

1955 - Teruko also receives a 1-year scholarship to study abstraction and holds studio practice with Hans Hofmann in his final class in New York in May 1955, with studies beginning in October of that year.

1955 - In June, the Artist receives a one-year scholarship to continue her studies at the California School of Fine Arts.

1955 - Teruko's has her first major exhibition of works on canvas, which opens on July 11, 1955, at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. In post exhibition correspondence between Teruko, guests for her upcoming wash sketch exhibition and the Museum Director Thomas C. Howe Jr; Director Howe describes the exhibition as a "phenomenal success".

1956 - Teruko holds her second major solo exhibition comprised of 28 Indian ink wash drawings of San Francisco scenes at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, California.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

1955 - Teruko moves to the Upper West Side of Manhattan near Central Park in September 1955 to study under the abstract expressionist painter and professor Hans Hoffman as part of the final class at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts on 52 west 8th Street.

1956 - Teruko continues her studies with Julien Levi at the Art Student League in New York.

1955-1957 - Through her studies under Hofmann and Levi and immersion in the New York art scene, Teruko develops relationships with many artists, forming meaningful friendships with artists Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell and Kenzo Okada.

1957 - Teruko is included in the 25th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC in early 1957, winning a prize in the judged exhibition group show.

1957 - Teruko wins a prize for work shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 152nd Annual Exhibition in Philadelphia.

1957 - Teruko meets Sam Francis at a Picasso Exhibition Opening at the Museum of Modern

Art in New York.

1957 - The Institute of Contemporary Art considers Teruko's works for inclusion in a research catalogue and exhibition planned for 1958, but ultimately held in London in 1960. The Institute intends to focus on her abstract works on canvas.

1958 - Sam and Teruko marry and move in together in the Penthouse apartment at The Chelsea Hotel. Teruko moves her studio into the Chelsea, living and working in the famed Hotel for the next two years.

1959 - Teruko and Sam's daughter Kayo is born in the summer of 1959.

1959 - By the early fall of 1959, Teruko is back to working in her studio and begins working on some of her most monumental works on canvas. A number of these works would be shown at her first major Tokyo exhibition in the spring of 1961 at Minami Gallery. This exhibition establishes Teruko as an artist with international appeal.

1960 - Teruko shows several works on paper at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York, further establishing her presence in the New York scene and as an up-and-coming artist.
PARIS, LONDON AND TOKYO

1960 - Teruko and Sam move to the 14th Arrondissement in Paris, France. Teruko establishes her studio in their large apartment, continuing to paint her large format diamond works. She begins working on Red and Gray while in her Paris studio.

1960 - On a visit to Sam and Teruko’s Paris residence and studio space, Arnold Rüdlinger discovers a studio space in search of a restroom and lets his curiosity take over when he sees several canvases turned around in the space. One canvas, Red and Gray, resonates deeply with Arnold - or “Noldi” as Teruko would often call him - and leads to her showing the work among others at a group exhibition with Walter Bodmer and Otto Tschumi at the Kunsthalle Basel in 1964 with Rüdlinger as the Curator and Director. She would develop a lasting friendship with Otto and his wife Beatrice, who would attend future openings and social events held in her honor.

1960 - Accomplished photographer Charles Gimpel photographs Teruko in her Paris Studio, creating a fascinating autobiographical record of Teruko as her career begins to accelerate.

1960 - The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) group show titled The Mysterious Sign opens in London in October of 1960, running through December of the same year. Teruko is featured among several other artists, including Al Held, Jasper Johns, Max Ernst, Franz Klein, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell and a total of 34 of the most heralded artists of the post-modern era. Interestingly, Teruko is only one of two women artists of the 35 artists presented in the show, joining Lily Keller in that honor.

1960-1961 - Teruko maintains her close friendship with Joan Mitchell, who had moved to Paris at the end of 1959, and meets Jean Tinguely, the Swiss sculptor, who was in Paris at the time. Teruko continues producing work in her Paris studio, working toward her Minami Gallery Exhibition.

1961 - Teruko's solo show at Minami Gallery opens in February 1961, showcasing 14 works on Canvas. Minami Gallery owner Kusuo Shimizu shows Teruko's work shortly after French Art Informel master Jean Fautrier, whose exhibition opened at Minami in 1959. After Fautrier and Teruko, Kusuo and Minami would go on to exhibit Andy Warhol, Joan Miro, Ay-O, Sam Francis, Jasper Johns, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Tinguely, and many other Japanese and Western post-modernists through 1979.

1961 - Teruko leaves Paris, temporarily stopping in Tokyo until early 1962, then moving back to Europe to settle in Bern, Switzerland where her relationship with Kornfeld Gallery would begin and she would spend much of her mid and late career.
BERN, SWITZERLAND

1962 - Shortly after the Minami Exhibition and a short stay in Tokyo, Teruko moves to Bern Switzerland and opens her studio space establishing what will become her permanent residency throughout the rest of her career.

1963 - Teruko divorces Sam, continuing to paint and raise her daughter Kayo in Bern.

1964 - Teruko shows Red and Gray among other works at the Kunsthalle Basel exhibition group show titled Otto Tschumi - Walter Bodmer - Teruko Yokoi, which opens in March of 1964. Rüdlinger curates another group exhibition in October of the same year, including Teruko among the roster of artists presented. Rüdlinger was a monumental figure in the Swiss curatorial space, curating groundbreaking exhibitions for the likes of Mark Rothko, Meret Oppenheim, Franz Kline, Paul Klee, Mark Kempf, Ernst Kirchner and Alberto Giacometti among many others.

1967 - The untimely passing of Arnold Rüdlinger is devastating to Teruko as she loses a dear friend and one of her fiercest advocates as an artist. Throughout the reamainder of her life, Teruko often spoke of her friendship with Rüdlinger and how it helped her focus on her career even with all the stress of a divorce and raising a child on her own.

1967 - Teruko begins working with two printmakers in Switzerland, producing multiple short editions of Lithographs. She would continue her production in lithography along with her revival of collage over the next four decades, producing dozens of editions spanning both her abstraction and landscape periods.

1968 - In the summer of 1968, Teruko's solo exhibition opens at Galerie Handschin in Basel, Switzerland. Handschin held numerous solo and group exhibitions in the 1960s and 1970s for Teruko's friends Shirley Jaffe and Meret Oppenheim and fellow well known artists Niki de Saint-Phalle, Cy Twombly, Dieter Roth, and Jean Tinguely among others.

1969 - In October of 1969, Teruko is included in a group exhibition at Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland alongside Benito Steiner and Italo Valenti.

1975 - Teruko is featured in a major institutional show at the Kunsthalle Bern titled Five Painters from Abroad in the Canton of Berne. The show features one of her largest works to date, a triptych mural on canvas representative of her more landscape figurative abstraction that re-emerged more prominently later in her career.

1978 - Teruko has solo shows at Galerie Atrium in Reinach, Galerie Quadri in Lausanne, and Galerie Plantahaus in Malans, Switzerland. Each of these galleries has held numerous successful solo exhibitions since the late 1970s. By the late-1970s, Teruko has become an established name in the Swiss and German art scene.

1979 - Teruko is included in an institutional group exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bern, her second at the central Swiss Canton's museum of fine arts. She also holds solo shows this year at Bucher Lang and Galerie Krebs in Bern, Switzerland, both galleries having previously shown her work.
MID-CAREER: A GROWING INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE

1980 - Teruko and her work are shown again in the United States, being included in a group show at the Smith Anderson Gallery in Palo Alto, California. David Anderson, the Son of Martha Jackson and Teruko had remained friends since her first Martha Jackson group show in New York in 1961, with the dealer continuing to follow her Career. Teruko also has solo shows this year at Galerie Paul Bovee in Delemont and again at Galerie Quadri in Lausanne, Switzerland.

1981 – Teruko is invited to participate in the great German Art Exhibition at the Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany. She has two more solo shows that year, one at Galerie Art and Music in Munich, Germany and another at Galerie Krebs in Bern, Switzerland.

1982 - Teruko has three solo exhibitions in 1982. Teruko is shown again in the United States at the Mitzi Landau Gallery in Los Angeles, California where she features a series of her egg tempera works. Teruko shows later that year in her inaugural Galerie Kornfeld exhibition in the gallery's Zurich space and has her third solo show at Galerie Atrium in Basel, Switzerland. The exhibition with Kornfeld marks the beginning of an important gallery relationship for Teruko that continues to endure through the present.

1982 - Teruko's grandson Tai is born on the Artist's birthday.

1984 - Teruko is included in a group show at Kultur Arena Wittigkofen in Bern, Switzerland. She also has three solo exhibitions at Gimpel-Hanover + Andre Emmerich Galerien in Zurich, Bucher Lang in Bern and at the Wolfsberg UBS Center for Education and Dialogue in Ermatingen, Switzerland.

1985 - Teruko's first granddaughter Aisha is born in February of this year.

1986 - This marks another important year for Teruko's career. Teruko is featured in a solo exhibition titled Comme un petit Coquelicot at the Seibu Art Forum in Tokyo, Japan. The exhibition features a study of numerous polyptychs, sketches and a series of her lithography from the 1970s and 1980s. The accompanying book published for the exhibition includes letters from the Mainichi Press, which covered her last major solo exhibition at Minami Gallery 25 years earlier, and Sir Sydney Gifford, British Ambassador to Japan, who noted his admiration for her work and acknowledged the artist's international presence. The exhibition continues later that year as an institutional solo show at the Mie Prefectural Art Museum in Tsu-City Japan.

1987 - Teruko holds two solo shows in 1987 at the Galerie Atrium in Basel, Switzerland and at the Sui Gallery - Seibu in Tokyo, Japan. The Show at the Sui Gallery was a follow on after the successful exhibition of works at the Seibu Art Forum and Mie Prefectural Museum.

1990 - Teruko's second granddaughter Anela is born in November of 1990.
SWISS CITIZENSHIP AND RETROSPECTION

1991 - Teruko is granted permanent Swiss citizenship. The same year, she has two solo shows at Galerie Quadri and Galerie Krebs in Ferlens and Bern, Switzerland.

1996 – After holding 10 Swiss and German solo exhibitions since being granted Swiss Citizenship, Teruko holds a solo exhibition at the International Culture Center in Nagoya, Japan. The Nagoya exhibition is held as a benefit for a children’s group home and is another example of her passion for giving and supporting charitable causes.

1997 – Teruko holds a major solo exhibition at Galerie Kornfeld in Bern, Switzerland, showing over 100 works in a show titled Teruko Yokoi: Four Seasons – Homage to Karin.

2002 - In 2002 Teruko holds major solo exhibitions in two continents, holding the first, an institutional show, in Fuji, Japan at the Rose Theater Fuji-City Exhibition Hall. She holds her second solo exhibition this year at Galerie Kornfeld in Bern, Switzerland. This show is titled Teruko Yokoi: Japanese Seasons and emphasizes her Japanese heritage and the cultural bridge she has become as a public figure in Switzerland.

2004 - Teruko holds her inaugural solo exhibition concurrent with the opening of the Teruko Yokoi Hinageshi Art Museum in Ena, Japan on the hillside northeast of Nagoya. The museum shows an extensive collection of her works across her career, supports local arts and culture through its programming and sponsors and supports exhibitions across Japan. The Hinageshi Museum has held annual Teruko Yokoi Exhibitions since its opening in 2004 and has recently renovated its grounds and gardens in advance of the memorial service held in 2023 to honor the artist's life. In 2004, Teruko also holds another solo exhibition at the Galerie Am Leewasser in Brunnen, Switzerland.

2008 - Teruko holds her inaugural solo exhibition at the Yokoi Teruko Fuji Museum of Art in Fuji-City Japan as the museum opens to the public. This is the second private institution to open showcasing the artist's work in Japan.

2009 - Galerie Kornfeld holds a major solo exhibition retrospective titled Works from 1941 Until Today in Bern, Switzerland. The exhibition includes a publication titled Schnee Mond Blumen, written, edited and self-published by the Artist with sponsorship from Credit Suisse. Several works would go on to be acquired and installed in the Schlossberg Thun Castle’s state room in Thun, Switzerland. While the Castle is open to the public, this room is only available for special events, often being used as a meeting room for Swiss Government and international officials. Teruko's celebration of life in Switzerland would be held in the Castle in 2022 with her canvases lining the walls.

2010 - Teruko is included in a group Show at Kultur Arena Bern, Bern Switzerland. She also holds a major solo exhibition titled Mond, Schnee, Jahreszeiten held at the Wolfsburg - UBS Center for Education and Dialogue in Ermatingen, Switzerland.

2012 - After the success of the 2009 exhibition, Kornfeld Galerie in Bern holds a second large retrospective of Teruko's work with the gallery publishing a second book titled Schnee Mond Blumen II.

2014 - In Collaboration with the Kambly Company, Teruko holds a solo benefit exhibition to support the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch in Schüpfheim, Switzerland. The benefit exhibition is held at the Kambly factory store in Trubschachen, Switzerland. Oscar Kambly and his family have long been patrons of the arts, holding numerous group exhibitions and featuring artists on limited edition cookie tins promoting Swiss national artists. The exhibition is a success, selling out, and all proceeds from works sold by Ms. Yokoi are donated to the Biosphere, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to Teruko’s wishes, the funds are allocated to create an herb garden in honor of Teruko’s mother, who was an herbalist during Teruko’s childhood in Tsushima.

2015 - Teruko holds another major institutional retrospective exhibition at the Kuomi-machi Kougen Museum of Art in Kuomi Japan. She is unable to attend this opening due to her advanced age, but she has numerous representatives attend in her honor, with her daughter among others giving a short speech to the audience at the opening.

2019 - Galerie Kornfeld would hold Teruko’s final gallery solo exhibition in honor of her 95^th birthday before her passing the following year.

2020 - In January of 2020, the major institutional retrospective Teruko Yokoi: Tokyo - New York - Paris - Bern opens at the Kunstmuseum Bern, curated by Marta Dziewànska. The Retrospective is the largest institutional show to date for Teruko, covering her prolific career and nearly eight decades of painting and printmaking. Teruko attends the opening and engages the media dressed in her signature kimono with friends, family, and collaborators joining in celebration of the Artist. After the exhibition, the Museum would go on to procure a large Canvas titled Peach Blossom Fest, adding it to the Museum's permanent collection and installing it temporarily after the exhibition across from a similar sized Mark Rothko work on Canvas. The exhibition opens to the largest audience in the history of the museum just as the global pandemic is starting to halt travel across the globe. Nonetheless, the exhibition continues to be a success, with the Kunstmuseum deciding to extend the exhibition through the summer and into October.

2020 - Teruko passes away peacefully in the presence of her daughter on October 28th. Her ashes are buried in a private memorial garden at her Museum in Ena, Japan, near her beloved paintings.
CONTINUED LEGACY

2022 - Once Covid pandemic travel restrictions are lifted, a celebration of Teruko's life is held at Schlossberg Thun. Poppies, Teruko's favotire flower, are placed throughout the Thun Castle state room set against the backdrop of works on canvas and photos of her throughout her career.

2023 - Teruko's ashes are laid to rest near her home town of Tsushima, Japan in a private garden overlooking the Teruko Yokoi Hinageshi Museum. The museum opens a retrospective in her honor as family and frineds from across the world participate in the traditional shinto funeral service.

2024 - Teruko Yokoi, a solo retrospective curated by Doug Walla opens as one of the final exhibitions at the storied Marlborough Gallery at their Chelsea space. The Exhibition runs through what would have been the Artist's 100th birthday and is received with critical acclaim with coverage by the Brooklyn Rail and ArtForum among others. The Marlborough Gallery also produces a publication to accompany the exhibition.

2024 - Multiple works from Teruko's New York, Paris and early Bern abstraction period are shown by United States Gallery Hollis Taggart and Japanese Gallery A Lighthouse Called Kanata at the Armory Show in New York.

2024 - A major retrospective of Teruko's Work will open in October at Galerie Kornfeld in Bern Switzerland in the Gallery's new exhibition space. The exhibition honors what would have been the artist's 100th birthday and the important role the gallery and its namesake Ebi Kornfeld played throughout the latter half of her career. Teruko's exhibition will be the first held in the renovated historic auction house and gallery.

2025 and Beyond - Multiple solo gallery and institutional exhibitions are planned for 2025 in the United States and Japan. Announcements and further details for these exhibitions will be made in early 2025.
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