Chiura obata biography definition

His faith in the power of art, his devotion to preserving the myriad grandeur of what he called "Great Nature," and his compelling personal story as an immigrant and an American are all as relevant to our contemporary moment as ever.

Chiura obata biography definition

Open Daily, a. Collection Highlights 20th Century. Asian American Art. Latinx Art. Contemporary Art. He worked with thirty- two wood carvers and eighteen printers, and each image required between and progressive proofs, resulting in an astonishing level of detail in which the hairs from individual brushstrokes are faithfully captured. Each print represents the deep impact the distinctly American landscape had on Obata, as filtered through his unique synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions and techniques.

A self-described "roughneck", Obata went to the United States inat age After initially working as an illustrator and commercial decorator, he had a successful career as a painter, following a summer spent in the Sierra Nevada, and was a faculty member in the Art Department at the University of California, Berkeley, from tointerrupted by World War II, when he spent a year in an internment camp.

He nevertheless emerged as a leading figure in the Northern California art scene and as an influential educator, teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, for nearly twenty years and acting as founding director of the art school at the Topaz internment camp. After his retirement, he continued to paint and to lead group tours to Japan to see gardens and art.

Close Panel Museum Hours. Close Menu. Biography and lesson plans. Asian America. Academic Subjects. Inwhen the military exclusion ban was lifted, Obata was reinstated as an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley. In he was promoted to Associate Professor of Art. A popular professor, Obata played a pivotal role in introducing Japanese art techniques and aesthetics that became one of the distinctive characteristics of the California Watercolor School.

His solo shows resumed, as did his sketching and painting trips in the high country, often with the Sierra Club. In he retired from U. University president Robert Sproul stated, "When you came to the Berkeley campus you brought with you the outlook of another land, a special background and training, the knowledge of special techniques. Transplanting to the West the art of the East, you infused into the Art Department an element that has given it singular distinction.

From toObata traveled throughout California, giving lectures and demonstrations on Japanese brush painting, and leading tours.