Hideko FUKUSHIMA

Dates: 1927–1997
Country: Japan

Fukushima Hideko was a key figure in postwar Japanese abstraction and a founding member of the avant-garde collective Jikken Kobo (Experimental Workshop). Born in Tokyo, she graduated from Bunka Gakuin in 1943 and emerged in the intellectually charged environment of late 1940s experimental practice. Her early work was shaped by collective research across painting, science, music and technology, laying the foundation for a lifelong exploration of non-representational painting.

During the 1950s, Fukushima’s interdisciplinary practice evolved from figurative imagery to process- driven abstraction, emphasizing material engagement, movement and psychological intensity. In 1957 her work caught the attention of French art critic and leader of the Art Informel movement, Michel Tapié, who introduced her to an international audience.

From the 1960s onwards, Fukushima focused exclusively on painting. By the mid-1970s, she had developed a more pared-back, meditative style, characterized by subtle shifts in colour and the way that acrylic paint was allowed to soak into the paper. Fukushima’s work is held in major public collections, including Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

Works

1 work

Works from past exhibitions

1 work

Shown in

Publications

202620th Century Japanese Art – TEFAF 2026