"Memories of Europe II"

Noboru Tsurutani (1940-2007)
was a well known Japanese oil painter and printmaker who specialized in abstract images. He was born in 1940 in Takaoka, Japan and graduated from Art School in Kanazawa, Japan. After graduation, he moved to the United States where he worked as an artist and teacher for more than three decades. While in New York he learned the techniques of pop silk screening. He won many awards for his prints, including awards at the Philadelphia Exhibition Print Club and the Paris Print Biennial Exhibition. His work is exhibited in numerous museums and galleries.

Tsurutani eventually moved back to Japan and he won awards in several large exhibitions, including 3 special prizes in the "Art Prize Exhibition of Northern Japan, 2003." He received the Prefectural Cultural Achievement Award in 2006 and was recognized for his artistic contributions to local culture by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports in 1991. Tsurutani had a retrospective exhibit at the Fukumitsu Museum in 2002. The exhibit catalog recorded his experiences of studying and working in the United States. The catalog was entitled "Memories of 40 Years Ago", which outlined his daily efforts and struggles. He was known for his abstract paintings, his teaching skills, and development of local art. Tsurutani died of a heart attack in January 2007.