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Chiura Obata was born in Okayama, Japan in 1885, and immigrated to the West Coast of the U.S. in 1903. Throughout his career, which spanned seven decades and included a nearly 20-year stint as a professor at UC Berkeley, he witnessed socio-political upheaval through anti-immigration reform and the incarceration of thousands of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during the Second World War. “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,” wrote ShiPu Wang in Chiura Obata: An American Modern. He died in Berkeley in 1975.
This month marks the annual Obata Art Weekend at Yosemite National Park, where the artist spent time creating some of his most iconic paintings in the style of Japanese ink drawings and scrolls. The event includes an exhibition of original works and prints along with a program of workshops, talks, nature journaling activities, and more.
All images courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.