Masaaki Yamada was a prolific postwar artist embracing a meticulously philosophical approach to painting. Profoundly affected by the war, his works are categorized into three distinct periods that track the adoption of abstraction as a process from destruction to totality. His first series "Still life" observes the gradual destruction of still life objects into basic forms, which become stripes and crosses in the following series "Work." His paintings culminate in the series "Color," absolute planes of single hues, aggregating to approximately 5000 works created in his lifetime. His work is accompanied by thorough production notes that record his experiences and thought processes in the pursuit of precision.