Chiura Obata ranks among the most significant California-based artists and Japanese American cultural leaders of the last century. He is best known for majestic depictions of the American West.
Obata’s calling as a painter, teacher, and cultural ambassador persisted while detained in incarceration camps during World War II, where he created art schools to help fellow prisoners cope with their displacement and loss. Chiura Obata: American Modern honors the seven-decade career of this notable artist.Â
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Chiura Obata, Untitled (Ikebana in Glass Vase), 1937, color ink on paper, 21 x 15 1/2 inches, Private Collection. Â
Exhibition Credit: Chiura Obata: American Modern is organized by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara, with generous support by the Terra Foundation for American Art. The presentation in Washington, DC is made possible by the Elizabeth Broun Curatorial Endowment, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Gene Davis Memorial Fund, Japan-United States Friendship Commission, and the Elizabeth B. and Laurence I. Wood Endowment.
