Minoru Niizuma

Who was Minoru Niizuma?

Minoru Niizuma was a Japanese abstract sculptor.

He graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1955, and from 1954 through 1958 he exhibited with the Modern Art Association. Niizuma moved to New York in 1959, and from 1964 through 1970 he was an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. From 1972 through 1984, he was adjunct professor at Columbia University. Niizuma worked mostly marble, but also granite, volcanic rock and other materials. His designs would vary from geometric to organic and, sometimes, his references were reminiscent from folk art. His works show the influence of the oriental Asian tradition and the western contemporary art. The Wave's Voice, installed in the Honolulu Museum of Art, is a typical example of his work.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Mie Prefectural Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Modern Art, the Seibu Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon are among the public collections holding works by Niizuma.