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Chiura Obata
1885–1975
Death placeBerkeley, California, United Staes of America
BirthplaceOkayama, Japan
Biography
Chiura Obata was a leading California artist, teacher, and Japanese American cultural leader, best known for his painted landscapes of the American West.
Born in Okayama, Japan, in 1885, Obata received training in Tokyo in classical Japanese ink painting known as sumi-e. In 1903, the seventeen-year-old Obata traveled to the United States, first to Seattle, then to San Francisco, where he worked as an illustrator for the city’s two Japanese newspapers. He began to learn English and continued to work as an illustrator and mural painter as well as to design scenery and costumes for the San Francisco Opera. In 1912 he married Haruko Kohashi (1892–1989), an expert practitioner of ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arrangement. During the 1920s, Obata co-founded the East West Art Society, an artists’ collective in the Bay Area that facilitated cross-cultural dialogue.
In 1927, Obata spent two months in Yosemite National Park with his friend Worth Ryder (1884–1960), a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Obata created more than one hundred sketches and ink paintings during this trip, marking the beginning of his lifelong commitment to the California landscape and what he called “Great Nature.” Ryder soon invited his friend to lecture at Berkeley, and Obata joined the university’s faculty in 1932.
World War II interrupted Obata’s rising career. In 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 authorized the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants, and Obata and his family were forced to move from Berkeley to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California, and later the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. At both internment camps Obata established art schools, which helped people to process their experiences of displacement, imprisonment, and loss. During his time in the camps, Obata made hundreds of drawings of everyday life, as well as watercolor paintings of the desert landscape. In 1943, the Japanese American Citizens League presented First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with one of Obata’s paintings on silk, Moonlight Over Topaz (1942).
After the war, Obata returned to UC Berkeley, where he again instructed students about Japanese art, culture, and philosophy. He continued to paint and exhibit. He retired in 1953 and became a US citizen in 1954. He and his wife traveled regularly to Japan in the following years, often accompanied by groups of other Americans. He also gave lectures and demonstrations throughout California, introducing people to Japanese brush painting. He was well known for his artwork and teaching and for being a cultural ambassador.
Born in Okayama, Japan, in 1885, Obata received training in Tokyo in classical Japanese ink painting known as sumi-e. In 1903, the seventeen-year-old Obata traveled to the United States, first to Seattle, then to San Francisco, where he worked as an illustrator for the city’s two Japanese newspapers. He began to learn English and continued to work as an illustrator and mural painter as well as to design scenery and costumes for the San Francisco Opera. In 1912 he married Haruko Kohashi (1892–1989), an expert practitioner of ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arrangement. During the 1920s, Obata co-founded the East West Art Society, an artists’ collective in the Bay Area that facilitated cross-cultural dialogue.
In 1927, Obata spent two months in Yosemite National Park with his friend Worth Ryder (1884–1960), a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Obata created more than one hundred sketches and ink paintings during this trip, marking the beginning of his lifelong commitment to the California landscape and what he called “Great Nature.” Ryder soon invited his friend to lecture at Berkeley, and Obata joined the university’s faculty in 1932.
World War II interrupted Obata’s rising career. In 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 authorized the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants, and Obata and his family were forced to move from Berkeley to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California, and later the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. At both internment camps Obata established art schools, which helped people to process their experiences of displacement, imprisonment, and loss. During his time in the camps, Obata made hundreds of drawings of everyday life, as well as watercolor paintings of the desert landscape. In 1943, the Japanese American Citizens League presented First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with one of Obata’s paintings on silk, Moonlight Over Topaz (1942).
After the war, Obata returned to UC Berkeley, where he again instructed students about Japanese art, culture, and philosophy. He continued to paint and exhibit. He retired in 1953 and became a US citizen in 1954. He and his wife traveled regularly to Japan in the following years, often accompanied by groups of other Americans. He also gave lectures and demonstrations throughout California, introducing people to Japanese brush painting. He was well known for his artwork and teaching and for being a cultural ambassador.