Masae Bessho (1945-1995)

Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1945.

After studying fine art in Japan, she came to Paris to continue her studies   at the city’s School of Fine Art. She died in Paris in 1995.

It is unfortunate that some of the greatest artists are only rediscovered after their deaths. As with my friend Masae, they often leave a legacy of strange yet magnificent works of art.

I can still picture now, whether it was at the School of Fine Art or later at her place in Borrégo, the image of a very beautiful Japanese madonna with her long mane of jet-back hair.

When she first arrived in Paris, she painted extravagant swirling and   vibrant paintings in rich reds and intense blacks, and with such spirit and painstaking concentration. Always dissatisfied with the outcome, she would re-do them adding bits here, scratching bits there and thus rediscovering old canvases that had ceased to please her.

Later, following her graduation from art college, her work underwent a profound transformation. Having finally found her own studio and space, it was as if she had reached out and discovered her own style and universe. The elaborate patterns gradually disappeared and were slowly replaced by more rigid structures.

The bright yellows that permeated her palette were always accompanied with vibrant reds and a dot of sky blue here and there, perhaps as a sign of hope in the midst.

As a person, she hardly changed. She was always aloof, withdrawn and secretive whenever I visited her at Borrégo to admire her latest canvas. At her studio, Masae painted more than 200 of the most extraordinary pictures, the majority of which disappeared one fatal day when the Parisian bulldozers moved in on the village. No longer able to paint and chased out of her home and studio, she became ever more mysterious, so much so that I could no longer relate to her. 

All that remains is one intense, superbly magical and completely unforgettable work of art.Yankel, Paris le 2/9/03

 La Capitale Galerie, Paris - 2003, (permanent collection)