Red Snakes 赤い蛇

Figures of women merge with the surrounding lush vegetation. In their midst is a man and woman seated close together. Encircling them all, a snake coils over the entire picture. The title "Red Snake" suggests a connection with the Garden of Eden. As a student, Sugimata pored over the works of Max Ernst as if "possessed by him." Influenced by Ernst and other artists in this way，he joined the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai (Art Culture Association), which championed Surrealism, and remained a member from 1939 to 1953. Sugimata did occasional works based on mythological or biblical themes, like "Red Snake", in the period immediately following Japan's defeat in World War II. These works may reflect his concern for the primordial days of man― a concern that transcended personal fantasy. Finding time to paint between the farm work necessitated by the postwar food shortage, Sugimata attempted to return to Surrealism, which had been banned by the wartime government. He found, however, that Surrealism could not fulfill his desire to "infuse the picture with the upheaval that occurred during and after the War, and in turn spit something out." Because reality involved so many more superlatives, he stated, Surrealism seemed empty, like a mere shell. In the 1960s, Sugimata found a new artistic path in abstract painting, using the tortoise shell as his motif.