Biography from Tokinowasuremono. Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1912. After that, he moved to Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture. In 1931, Onosato enrolled in Nihon University's electrical engineering program but dropped out. He studied at the Tsuda Seifu Western Painting School. At 35 years old he formed the Black Western Painting Exhibition. In 1938, he became a member of the Jiyu Bijutsuka Kyōkai (until 1956, when he became independent). In 1941, he went to the front as a private soldier, and after being detained in Siberia after the war, he returned to Japan in 1948. His first circles appeared in 1955. In 1964 and 1966, he represented Japan at the Venice Biennale. He continued his avant-garde art path after the war and with his close friend Ei Q. He passed away in 1986. Like Ei Q, Yamaguchi Takeo, and Sugai Kumi, Onosato, one of Japan's leading abstract painters, left about 200 prints (lithographs and silkscreens) in addition to oil paintings. His works are in many museums, including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
Quotes below from Shibunkaku https://shibunkaku.com/products/detail/2335?utm_source=BenchmarkEmail&ut... - accessed 12/8/22
His circle motifs started in 1955 and by the time of his first show at Minami Gallery in 1962 he had begun his circle division paintings. He once described his artistic principles as follows: “My works belongs to the realm of physics, there is nothing painterly about it. I was always most interested in physics. I ended up somewhat on the sidelines of art, but I have never been involved in the ‘human drama.’ Just as physics has objects, force relationships and symbols called numbers, I have shapes and colors” (Onosato Toshinobu, “From Basic Form and Color,” Bijutsu techō, August 1962).
In his essay “On My Painting,” he describes the “birth” of the circle: “In the beginning, it was a lump of clay. I discovered the circle in all its simplicity. I layered it with a series of small squares that filled the screen. From there, the science of color and form began for me,” he recalled. “A circle doesn’t have an outline, it is just a precisely delineated flat surface. By dividing it into smaller units, its area becomes more tangible. The division of the circle creates a psychological and rectangular tension from the overlapping of colored surfaces, and transforms the abstract plane into a real object. Though a circle is a form, I tend to not think of it that way” (Onosato Toshinobu, “On My Painting,” in ONOSATO, 1989).