Pleasure of Picasso by Keiichi Tanaami

When the world shut down, so did Keiichi Tanaami’s schedule. For the first time in over 60 years, he wasn’t prepping for exhibitions or teaching in classrooms. Days stretched out, unfamiliar and quiet. “As I spent my days idly,” he said, “I was overcome by the feeling that I had to do something.”

That “something” began with a dusty canvas he noticed on the floor of his studio—a forgotten reproduction of Picasso’s Mother and Child, one he'd once reimagined by replacing the child with Astro Boy. Originally made for Osamu Tezuka’s “ATOM” exhibition, the piece sparked something. He began copying the work again. And again. What started as a spontaneous gesture grew into a practice.

Over the next three years, Tanaami painted every day, using small F6 canvases. First, he’d paint a version directly from a Picasso book. Then another, based on the first. Then another—each one drifting further into memory, intuition, adjustment. A ritual of repetition. A visual chant.

He made more than 400 paintings in this way. What began as an act of imitation became a conversation—between two artists, across time. A slow, meditative undoing of ego. A study of form. A way to stay grounded while the world shifted outside.

Pleasure of Picasso gathers the full series—Tanaami’s Picasso Variations—into a single volume. It isn’t just a collection of copies. It’s a record of process. A devotion. A quiet act of becoming.

• 25.7 (H) × 19 (W) × 3 (D) CM
  
• 386 pages
• Softcover with sleeve

Artist: Keiichi Tanaami

Published By: Nanzuka