Nui Sano (Japanese: 佐野 ぬい, romanized: Sano Nui; November 16, 1932 – August 23, 2023) was a Japanese yōga ("Western-style") painter. She was known for her rhythmic, abstract style and her frequent use of the color blue. A longtime instructor at the Joshibi University of Art and Design, she served as the school's president from 2007 to 2011.
Sano was born Nui Sakaki (Japanese: 佐々木 ぬい) in Hirosaki, Japan, in 1932.[1][2][3][4] Her family owned a sweets shop and a tearoom, where she was exposed to gatherings of classical musicians, writers, and painters.[1] She attended a girls' school there, then enrolled in the Joshibi University of Art and Design, a private women's art school near Tokyo, in 1951.[1]
Sano pursued a career as a painter, moving beyond representational art and into abstract, rhythmic, colorful forms.[1] She also stayed on at Joshibi as an instructor after her 1955 graduation and, later, as president of the university from 2007 to 2011.[1][4][5][6] From 2004 to 2007, she served as executive director of the Japan Artists Association [ja].[2]
Fascinated by the West from a young age, having seen French films and heard French poetry growing up, she traveled abroad to Europe, North Africa, and the United States to pursue further studies.[1][7] Sano is considered a yōga, or Western-style, painter.[5][8] Her work is best known for her use of the color blue, across its range of tones and shades, in a style that has been dubbed "Sano Blue" (佐野ブルー)—earning her the nickname "The Blue Painter" (青の画家).[1][2][3]
