Yoichiro Ogawa dit Aono Dô-Ki 小川 洋一郎 / 青野 堂鬼 (1939-2002) - Composition surréaliste aux figures hybrides

Stunning original drawing by the Japanese artist Yoichiro Ogawa, known as Aono Dô-Ki (1939-2002)

Artist: Yoichiro Ogawa, aka Aono Dô-Ki (Fukuoka, 1939 – 2002)

Title: Surreal composition with hybrid figures

Technique: Black ink on paper

Period: 1970s

Signature: unsigned

Provenance: Myrna Myers Gallery (Beaune Street, Paris)

Condition: good condition, light stains in the upper right corner

Sheet dimensions: 64.5 x 50 cm

Description of the work:
Stunning original work on paper by the Japanese artist Yoichiro Ogawa, known by the pseudonym Aono Dô-Ki.
Faithful to his singular universe at the crossroads of surrealism and Asian poetry, the artist here deploys a line of great finesse and remarkable fluidity. The composition features a suspended hybrid and biomorphic figure in space, blending stylized anatomical elements, vegetal motifs and fantastical forms drawn from traditional Japanese imagination. The balance between the emptiness of the page and the nerve-like precision of the line perfectly illustrates the artist’s spiritual quest, aiming to “reveal the invisible” and the vibrations of vital energy.

About the artist:
Aono Dô-Ki, born Yoichiro Ogawa (1939–2002), is a painter and connoisseur of Japanese art whose distinctive work flourished in Paris, before being brought to light in a major auction dispersal at Millon from the collection of the Galerie Myrna Myers.

Origins and training in Japan
* An antiquarian heritage: Born in 1939 in Fukuoka, Yoichiro Ogawa grew up within a lineage of Japanese antiquarians. This family setting developed his eye early on and made him a recognized expert in Japanese and Korean ceramics and ancient arts.
* Opening to the West: Alongside his knowledge of Asian traditions, he absorbed European painting and undertook several trips to Europe and the United States to study major museum collections.

Settlement in Paris and his pictorial universe
* The Montparnasse workshop: In 1968, he chose to settle in Paris, in the Montparnasse district, to devote himself fully to his creation. His artist name, Dô-Ki, means “between spirits and men.”
* A painting of the invisible: His style leans toward a poetic and surreal universe. Through gouaches, watercolors and exceedingly delicate inks, he depicts hybrid creatures (half-human, half-animal), organic forests and waterscapes in flux. The notion of love (Ai — 愛) constitutes the throughline of his compositions.
* Exhibitions: In the late 1970s, he presented his work at the Salon d’Automne and at FIAC.

The connection with Galerie Myrna Myers and the sale at Millon
* A friendship with Parisian gallerists: In Paris, Aono Dô-Ki formed a deep relationship with the American gallerists Myrna and Sam Myers, based on Beaune Street. He advised them in building their collection of Japanese and Korean art, while Galerie Myrna Myers faithfully defended and exhibited his own works.
* The auction at Millon: On April 23, 2026, the Millon auction house dispersed an exceptional group directly from Galerie Myrna Myers’ collection as part of its sale Petites œuvres des grands maîtres. This set of 184 lots brought together a majority of paintings on paper and canvas by Aono Dô-Ki, offering a rare testimony to his career and his close ties to the gallery.

Other works by the artist are currently available in our sales.
Shipped rolled.
Free local pickup is possible at the Paris Flea Market, Saint-Ouen.