From the mid-1950s, Yamaguchi started combining the material intensity of Art Informel with a rigorous commitment to flatness and Minimalism. He worked primarily with palette knives on board, emphasizing surface, texture and materiality, and producing works characterized by thick impasto, organic textures, and a restrained palette of black, ochre yellow and Venetian red. By the late 1960s, his paintings approached a near-monochrome condition, aligning his practice with international debates around Minimalism while remaining grounded in a sustained, introspective engagement with material and process.
Yamaguchi’s influence extended well beyond his own practice. He represented Japan at the Venice Biennale (1956) and the São Paulo Biennial (1955, 1963), and exhibited internationally, including at the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1958), and MoMA, New York (1964). He also had a profound influence on the next generation of artists, mentoring figures such as Lee Ufan and Kim Whanki, and taught at Musashino Art University for two decades.
His work is held in major public collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kyoto.
