Signed lower right in graphite, 'Shoichi Hasegawa 長谷川 彰一' (Japanese-French, born 1929), titled lower center, 'le chapiteau et la guitare', with number and limitation, lower left, '18/30'. Sheet dimensions: 22.25 x 30 Inches Born in Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shoichi Hasegawa first studied with Yoshinari Koga (He subsequently moved to Tokyo to study painting at the Koguga Academy. In Tokyo, Hasegawa was particularly influenced by Tasuku Kasukabe, who put him in touch with a watercolorists' association with whom Hasegawa first began exhibiting, and Kawaguchi Kigau, who had participated in the research of the Cubists and Surrealists in Paris during the 1920's. While in Tokyo, Hasegawa participated in the Nitten's first exhibition in 1951. In 1961, Hasegawa moved to Paris with his wife to learn etching techniques under Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17. Here, he became more committed to the principles of surrealism which he increasingly combined with a loose and lyrical sense of abstraction. He was soon exhibiting with success at the major art salons including Salon de la Jeune Peinture (1962), Salon des Réalités Nouvelles (1963, 1964) and, from 1963, at the Salon de la Jeune Graveure Contemporaine. Hasegawa was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards including First Prize at the Exposition Graveure Internationale de Côme. Since 1968, he has continued to exhibit internationally with success. Shoichi Hasegawa's work is held in numerous private and public collections including the permanent collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art and London's Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. Partial List of Awards 1965: Ljubljana International Print Biennale Exhibition 1972: Tokyo Third Civilization Exhibition International Award Reference: E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 6, p. 788; Patrick-Gilles Persin: Shoichi Hasegawa, Édition Raphaël, Francfort, 1987, avec catalogue raisonné des gravures; et al.