Works: A survey of Teruko Yokoi's artistic practice across painting, works on paper, and printmaking.

No Title, 1955

An early ink sketch from Teruko’s second year in San Francisco after immigrating to the United States. Using Indian ink and a bamboo pen, she uses quick lines to capture emphasize the focal point, becoming more abstract at the edges.

No Title, 1956/57

Made during Teruko’s New York years, while she studied with Hans Hofmann and at the Art Students League. Vertical brushstrokes and broad areas of open paper simplify the landscape into lines and forms also seen in canvases of the period, including White Morning, and in later works held by the Yale University Art Gallery.

No Title, 1957

Painted in New York in 1957, this untitled work belongs to one of the most concentrated periods of Yokoi’s early practice. Broad orange strokes cross fields of black, grey, and white, with a narrow blue line sharpening the composition. Painted on the backing board of an artist’s paper pad, Yokoi worked with urgency and economy and treated every available surface as a place to paint. Its original binding tape remains attached, with her handwriting and studio markings on the reverse. 

Autumn Light 2, 1973

 In Autumn Light 2, Teruko builds the composition from a few broad fields of black, white, yellow, and deep blue. The large forms feel both solid and gently curved, creating a strong vertical structure with very little detail. Seen beside No Title from the same year, the work shows how effectively she could create movement through scale, restraint, and the careful balance of painted form and open space.

Ohne Titel, 1973

Working with a closely related palette, Ohne Titel feels more fluid and spontaneous. Ochre and black forms gather within a broad white curve, while fine lines and scattered drops of yellow animate the surface. Silver crayon adds a subtle change in texture and light. Together, the two paintings show Yokoi moving easily between bold, simplified structure and a looser, more organic kind of abstraction.

Iris III, 1982

Created as one of three related works, Iris III stands on its own while remaining in conversation with its companion panels. Saturated passages of blue, yellow, violet, and green gather into forms that suggest flowers without becoming fully descriptive. Above them, collaged Japanese washi ceremonial paper and a band of metallic colour introduce a striking shift in texture. Printed material and freely painted form brings collage into the lyrical abstract language Yokoi had developed over decades.

Summer Rejoicing (polyptych parts 1-3 of 6), 1983-84

With Summer Rejoicing, Teruko expands this approach across six panels. Seen together, they form a sweeping, landscape-like composition, yet each panel retains its own balance and character. Bands of orange, black, yellow, and green move through the work, creating rhythm and unity without becoming a literal scene.

Summer Rejoicing (polyptych parts 4-6 of 6), 1983-84

Painted in egg tempera, the polyptych shows Teruko working confidently between the individual panel and the larger whole. Repeated colors carry the eye from one section to the next, while the narrow spaces between panels introduce moments of pause and allow the composition to unfold gradually.

June, 1982

During the early 1980s, nature had become an increasingly vivd presence within Teruko's mature abstraction expression. in June, broad floral forms are set against fine vertical lines, bringing structure to the intesnity of the contrasting red-orange and green. This balance between natural imagery, saturated color and ordered line work became an important part of her practice during this period.

Yuki (Snow), 1996

By the mid-1990s, Teruko had returned to the broad, solid shapes found  in some fo her earlier abstractions. Her nuanced technique with egg tempera demonstrates her ability to layer color to produce deep, vibrant compositions without muddying colors. The splattered marks and metalic paint bring spontaneity to an otherwise ordered composition.

Ohne Titel, 2014

Painted when Teruko was nearly ninety, this work returns to white water lilies, green stems and broad, dark leaves often seen in her later works both additionally on canvas and in lithographs. Her use of egg tempera techniques to carefully layer colors for depth and texture allow the composition to shift from a water lily scene to abstraction with ease.

Field Poppies, 2003

In the later decades of Teruko's practice, flowers remained a familiar way of returning to nature in her expression. In Field Poppies, brilliant red blooms rise through muted greens, while dark stems and scattered marks keep the composition between observation and abstraction. The direct handling and simplified forms relfect the increasing clarity of her work during this later period.

Innocence, 1993

This intimate Japanese Diary format brings gthe color and layered construction of Teruko's larger paintings into a more private scale. Translucent fields of coral, cream and yellow are divided into horizontal bands, animated by scattered dropelts and a spare, calligraphic line. This painting was individually titled, showing Teruko's attacthment to it as the majority of the works in this series remained untitled.

Ohne Titel  (Japanese Diary), 1975

This early Japanese Diary work shows how varied Teruko’s compositions could be within the series’ consistently intimate format. A dense black field gives the small sheet an unexpected sense of weight, while layered greens, fluid edges and fine linear accents create depth across the horizontal composition. The concentrated arrangement distills the gestures and layered color of her larger paintings into a private, closely held space.