Found "F," painted in 1949 exemplifies Sato's earliest work created just after he had finished taking classes at the Honolulu Academy of the Arts under the guidance of visiting New York modernist, Ralston Crawford. Sato attended classes at the Academy from 1946 through 1948, and he met Crawford in the summer session of 1948 shortly before he moved on to New York. Encouraged by Crawford and with a scholarship to the Brooklyn Museum School in hand, Sato left Hawaii along with his wife Kiyoko. In New York, he took classes at the New School and Pratt Institute, as well as at the Brooklyn Museum School.

In New York, Crawford introduced his student and friend to the modernist painter Stuart Davis, and these two teachers, Crawford and Davis, continued to be an important influence on him. "Subway Exit, (New York," 1954), a Sato abstract rendering of a subway turnstile, clearly draws inspiration from Davis' interest in depicting the shapes and rhythms of city life. Where Davis relied on bold colors, Sato already was working with a muted palette of black, gray and white, a range of colors that suited New York City's underground terrain. However, Found F, created just after Sato arrived in New York depicts the shapes and rhythms of Island Life in vibrant primary colors.

In Found "F", the entire composition is made up from postcard sized Hawaiian vignettes, scenes of: Diamond Head, The Pali, pineapple fields and processing plants, a Matson ship, sailboats, tikis, volcano, sampans, petroglyphs and so on. I counted at least 25 different scenes, but I'm sure there are more.

Provenance: Original Sale, Peridot Gallery 6 E. 12th Street, NY. Private collection, Connecticut, Papillon Gallery Los Angeles, Currently with a private collection Delaware since 2018.

Condition: Very fine condition, recently cleaned.

Signed lower right in block letters as usual for his early work, also signed titled and dated verso. Original frame