Samizu Times Two

Samizu Matsuki "Self Portrait with Self Portrait" 1970

Samizu Matsuki (b.1936) was born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan and graduated from the Joshibo University of Art and Design in Tokyo. She worked for a few years as an art teacher before meeting and marrying an American, with whom she eventually relocated to the United States. In 1970, the same year she painted this engaging double self-portrait, she plunged wholeheartedly into the New York City art scene. She won several major awards for her oil paintings painted in the "Magic Realism" style. She was one of the first women invited to membership in the prestigious Salmagundi Club.

Samizu studied further at Oregon State University and eventually relocated to Rockland, Maine. Her most recent honors include being an honoree in "Pioneer Women: First Ladies of the Salmagundi" and receiving a Commendation of Achievement from the Maine State Legislature, both in 2011. Samizu's website can be seen here.