Naoko

Naoko—a woman's personal name as title—suggests one of Saito's occasional portrait subjects where the sitter was known to him personally, or perhaps a figure study given a name to suggest intimate portraiture without claiming documentary accuracy. His portrait of a named woman would maintain his typical formal approach—the face in close-up or three-quarter view, features simplified but not to the point of generic anonymity—while the name adds a layer of human particularity.