Collection: namio harukawa

Born in 1947 in Osaka, Japan, this masterful illustrator maintained a certain degree of anonymity and mystery until his death in 2020. He created his pseudonym by combining the name of the actress Harukawa Masumi with an anagram of Naomi, the domineering heroine of Tanizaki Jun’ichirō’s novel A Fool’s Love.

While still a student, he regularly contributed to the readers’ letters section of Kitan Club, Japan’s leading pulp magazine, before embarking on an endless ode to curvy women who enjoy facesitting.

Circulating more or less under the radar on the covers of fetish publications and VHS tapes in Japan, his sumptuous pencil drawings evoke the virtuosity of a Betty Page-influenced Tom of Finland. They were first introduced in France by Stéphane Blanquet’s publishing house, before being presented for the very first time in Paris during the group show United Dead Artists, curated by the Arts Factory gallery in 2012.

Other exhibitions followed, notably at the Musée de l'érotisme in 2013 and at the Halle Saint Pierre in 2015 as part of the Hey Art Show III, before he received well-deserved international recognition. The publishers Treville in Japan and Baron in the United Kingdom continue to keep his work alive by regularly publishing monographs that remain highly sought after.