Artist

Leo Amino

born Taiwan, Japan (now Taiwan) 1911-died New York City 1989
Born
Taiwan,
Died
New York, New York, United States
Active in
  • New York, New York, United States
Biography

Leo Amino—born in Taiwan in 1911 where his father was an agricultural consultant for the Japanese government—was reared in Tokyo. In 1929, he immigrated to the United States and studied at San Mateo Junior College in California for two years and, later, at New York University. He remained in New York to work for a Japanese wood importing firm and took home ebony samples to carve. Although he had received no formal art training, his interest in sculpture grew rapidly and, in 1937, he studied briefly at the American Artists School with Chaim Gross, a leading proponent of direct carving.

Direct carving in wood or stone emphasizes properties of the material. The unique and distinctive patterns of veining, grain and color result in simplified sculptural forms and smooth geometrical outlines which harmonize with Amino's native sensibilities.

His work was exhibited at the 1939 World's Fair and he was given his first solo exhibition in 1940. Since then, he has shown almost continuously in commercial galleries and museums. In 1947 and 1950, he taught at the renowned Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

Amino taught at Cooper Union from 1952 until 1977 and, during that period, he continued to experiment.

"Recent Acquisition." National Museum of American Art Calendar of Events (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, October 1987)

Works by this artist (23 items)

Claggett Wilson, Salad--A Cleaned-Up Machine--Gun Nest, Bois de Belleau, ca. 1919, watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1981.163.8
Salad – A Cleaned-Up Machine – Gun Nest, Bois de Belleau
Dateca. 1919
watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Claggett Wilson, Bacchus Survivor--In the Ruined Garden of an Old Chateau in the Champagne Country There Remains, Triumphant, the Statue of Bacchus, Chipped and Scarred but Still Laughing as He Squeezes the Stone Grapes into the Stone Cup, ca. 1919, watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1981.163.22
Bacchus Survivor – In the Ruined Garden of an Old Chateau in…
Dateca. 1919
watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Claggett Wilson, Early June Morning, Bois de Belleau--Sniper Who Had Been Potted During the Night, ca. 1919, watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1981.163.7
Early June Morning, Bois de Belleau – Sniper Who Had Been…
Dateca. 1919
watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Claggett Wilson, Stragglers--French Wounded in the Retreat of Chateau-Thierry, ca. 1919, watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1981.163.3
Stragglers – French Wounded in the Retreat of Chateau-Thierry
Dateca. 1919
watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view