Arthur Okamura
American Buddha, 1994
acrylic on canvas
68 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.
Primarily known as a painter, Arthur Okamura (1932-2009) was an important Japanese American (Nisei) artist from the San Francisco Bay Area who also became known for his drawings, watercolors, printmaking, and illustrations for books of poetry.
Over the course of nearly six decades, Arthur Okamura’s artworks evolved as he moved through several stylistic shifts. Okamura is best known for his expansive series of abstract expressionist paintings and watercolors, his first mature body of work. Created between 1956 and the early 1960s after he had moved his family to San Francisco, Okamura’s abstract paintings are infused with the principles of Zen Buddhist thought, exploring territory different from his contemporaries.
As the 1960s progressed, Okamura explored the burgeoning psychedelic movement alongside his Zen practice under master Suzuki Roshi. The works created during these years all bear the hallmarks of what is now known as the Visionary Art Movement. Influenced by the works of early modern masters such as Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, many of the compositions are composed of numerous tiny human figures stacked and otherwise combined to form larger recognizable shapes, such as a feather or still life of a plant. Other subject matter explored during these years include poetic still lifes of flowers in vases and dreamy landscapes with animals. In 1966, Okamura began teaching at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland (now California College of the Arts in San Francisco) and would continue there until his retirement in 1997. He also taught classes at schools and art centers across the United States and abroad throughout his career.
The early 1970s marks the beginning of Okamura fusing his art with the writings of his poetic community of friends. Over the next four decades, Okamura collaborated on six books of poetry and one book of magic tricks with poets Robert Bly, Robert Creeley, Joel Weishaus, Steve Kowit, and Joanne Kyger. He would also have his paintings and drawings reproduced on the covers of numerous books of poetry.
The 1970s also coincided with a shift in his art towards expressive realism, but one suffused with a sense of Zen spiritualism and, at times, containing surreal elements. Major series include a decades long exploration of rock gardens, large-scale watercolors of the cliffs surrounding Lake Powell, paintings of temple ruins in Mexico and Bali, flower gardens in Hawaii, and views from the Bolinas Shoreline, to highlight a few. Okamura would continue in this expressionist mode until his death in 2009.
Born in Long Beach, CA, in 1932, Arthur Shinji Okamura grew up in the city of Compton, a part of greater Los Angeles. During WWII, Okamura and his family were first moved to the Santa Anita Racetrack Assembly Center and later sent to the Amache Internment Camp near Granada, CO. When the war ended, Okamura’s family moved to Chicago. Between 1950 - 1954, Okamura studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also took classes at the University of Chicago and a summer seminar at Yale University. While still a student, Okamura had his first solo exhibition of paintings at Frank Ryan Gallery in 1953. He would later show with important American dealers Charles Feingarten (Feingarten Galleries), Diana Fuller (Hansen Fuller Gallery) and Ruth Braunstein (Braunstein/Quay Gallery).
Arthur Okamura’s paintings, drawings, watercolors, and prints have been exhibited extensively across the United States and can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Smithsonian American Art Museum; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Art Institute of Chicago; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Phoenix Art Museum; Cincinnati Art Museum; Oakland Museum of California; San Jose Museum of Art; Crocker Art Museum; di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art; Bolinas Museum, and the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, among others.
ARTHUR OKAMURA
Born Long Beach, CA 1932
Died Bolinas, CA 2009
EDUCATION
1954 Yale University Summer Art Seminar
1951, 1953 University of Chicago
1950-54 The Art Institute of Chicago
SCHOLARSHIPS
1954 Edward L. Ryerson, Foreign Travel Fellowship
1954 Yale University Summer Art Seminar
1950-1954 Chicago Art Institute (four years)
TEACHING
1966-1997 California College of Arts & Crafts (Professor of Fine Arts)
1989, 1991 Watercolor Painting in Bali (Sponsored by Wilderness Journeys/Art Trek & University of California, Santa Cruz)
1987 Watercolor Painting in Tahiti
1977 Humboldt State College
1976 University of California, Santa Cruz
1976 Fort Wright College, Spokane, WA
1972 University of Utah, Guest Lecturer
1964 University of Utah, Guest Lecturer
1962 Saugatuck Summer Art School, Saugatuck, MI
1959 Saugatuck Summer Art School, Saugatuck, MI
1959 California College of Arts & Crafts
1958 Academy of Art, San Francisco, CA
1958 California College of Arts & Crafts
1958 San Francisco Studio of Art, Director
1957 Central YMCA College of Chicago
1957 Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
1957 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1957 North Shore Art League, Winnetka, IL
1956 Central YMCA College of Chicago
1956 Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Arthur Okamura: Buddha’s Garden, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 Returnings, House of Seiko, San Francisco, CA
2009 Arthur Okamura: Then, Now, and Beyond, Braunstein Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 Arthur Okamura: Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Paintings & Monoprints, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Commonwealth, Bolinas, CA
2000 Home With New Light, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Fishes, Crows, Dogs, and People, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Miniature Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1997 As Seen At The Beach, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1996 Early Paintings, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1996 Recent Bolinas Landscapes, Commonweal -20th Anniversary Celebration, Bolinas, CA
1995 FOCUS: Arthur Okamura (retrospective); Concurrently at the Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA, and Claudia Chaplin Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
1994 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1988 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1986 201 Fish, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985 Dog Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1984 Canyon Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983 Stinson Beach Art Center, Stinson Beach, CA
1982 Fruit Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1981 Bali Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1980 Commonweal, Bolinas, CA
1977 Hanson Fuller Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1973 Kent State University, Kent, OH
1973 Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI
1973 Charles Feingarten Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1972 California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
1972 University of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID
1971 Hanson Fuller Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1971 Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
1968 Drawings, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
1968 Hanson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1966 College of Holy Names, Oakland, CA
1965 M. Knoedler & Company, New York, NY
1964 Hanson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1964 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
1963 La Jolla Museum, La Jolla, CA
1962 Calhoun Gallery, Dallas, TX
1961 California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
1959 Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA
1958 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1956-1976 Feingarten Galleries, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles
1954 La Boutique, Chicago, IL
1953 Frank Ryan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1953 La Boutique, Chicago, IL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Where Things Begin: 10 American Artists of the Asian Diaspora, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 TWENTY FIVE TREASURES 2023, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 A Body of Work, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2008 Holiday Special: Gallery Group Show, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Coming Attractions: Gallery Group Show, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Branching Out, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Leading the way: visionary Asian American artists of the older generation Gordon College, Waltham, MA
1997 Making Art Histories: On the Trail of David Park, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
1997 As Seen At The Beach, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1997 Miniature Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1996 Hand Made Books (Opening Exhibition), San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA
1995 Chaos in the Backroom, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 With New Eyes, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
1994 Braunstein/Quay Gallery Artists, Shasta College Gallery, Redding, CA
1994 Seas, Lakes and Rivers, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA
1993 60 Plus: Older Artists of West Marin, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1993 Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA
1993 Sea Fever, Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, CA
1993 Cats, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1991 In The Garden, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1990 Miniature Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1988 Opening Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1988 Tropical Topics, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, CA
1987 Art is…, The Art Museum of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, CA
1987 On The Trail, Claudia Chaplin Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
1986 Tropical Visions, St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA
1986 Tropic Exotic, TransAmerica Pyramid, San Francisco, CA
1984 The Subject is Objects, St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA
1983 Oversize Watercolors, Jane Haslam Gallery, Washington, DC
1983 University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
1982 7th Anniversary Faculty Exhibition, California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
1981 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Braunstein Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1979 Braunstein Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1976 Zen Gardens, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
1975 Falkirk Community Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA
1975 Two-Person Show with Joan Rosenbaum, Walnut Creek Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA
1974 Four from CCAC, Berkeley Art Center, CA
1973 A Sense of Place, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
1972 Imaginary Painting from SF California State University, San Jose, CA
1971 Asian Artists, Oakland Museum of California, CA
1970 Takashima 1970 Exposition, Osaka/Tokyo, Japan
1970 Bay Area Art Faculties, College of Marin, Kentfield, CA
1967 Painters Behind Painters, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
1967 Pittsburgh International, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
1966 SECA Exhibits, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1966 Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
1965 Pacific Heritage, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
1964 Recent Collections by Friends of the Whitney, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1964 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1964 Ravinia Art Festival, Lake Forest, IL
1964 Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1963 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1962 Forty Artists Under Forty, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1962 Bay Area Artists, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1962 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1961 Great by Greats, Time Life Building, New York, NY
1961 Sculpture and Drawing, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1960 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1960 San Francisco Annual, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1959 New Talent, American Federation of Art, CA
1959 Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
1959 Fresh Paint, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1959 Knoedler Gallery, New York, NY
1959 Winter Invitational, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
1959 West Coast Painters, American Federation of Art, CA
1959 San Francisco Annual, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1959 American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1958-1959 Drawings of California Artists, Sponsored by U.S. Information Center, Berlin, Germany
1958 Contemporary Americans, University of Nebraska
1958 Recent Acquisitions, Denver Art Museum, CO
1958 San Francisco Annual, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1958 West Coast Painters, American Federation of Art, New York, NY
1958 Fresh Paint, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1957 Society of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1957 Art In Asia and the West, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1957 Contemporary American Painting, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1957 Contemporary Americans, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
1957 American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1956 Ravinia Art Festival, Highland Park, IL
1955 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1954 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
1954 Downtown Gallery, New York, NY
1954 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1954 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
1953 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
1952 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
1951 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
PRIZES
1976 San Francisco Art Commission - Purchase Prize
National Society of Arts & Letters, New York, Purchase Award
1960 Whitney Museum of Art – Neysa McMein Purchase Award
1960 79th Annual, San Francisco Museum - Schwabacher-Frey Award
1959 University of Illinois - Purchase Award
1957 Contemporary American Paintings, Art Institute of Chicago - Martin Cahn Award
1953 Religious Arts, University of Chicago - 1st Prize
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, CA
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco, CA
Borg Warner Collection, Chicago, IL
Bolina Museum, Bolinas, CA
California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Container Corporation of America
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
HKNY Hotel, Okinawa, Japan
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Illinois Bell Telephone
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Johnson Wax Collection, Racine, WI
Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
J. Willard Marriot Library Special Collections, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Miles Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
National Society of Arts and Letters, Germantown, DE
Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, IL
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Santa Barbara Museum, Santa Barbara, CA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
United Gas and Pipeline Company, Dallas, TX
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
University of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID
US Steel Service Institute
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
BOOKS
Magic Rabbit, Publisher: Jungle Garden Press, 1995
10 Poems by Issa - Co-Author Robert Bly, Publisher: Floating Island Publications, 1993
Passionate Journey - Co-author Steve Kowit, Publisher: City Miner Books, 1984
Basho - Co-author Robert Bly, Publisher: Mudra, 1972
Ox Herding - Co-Author Joel Weishaus, Publisher: Cranium Press, 1971
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 - Co-Author, Robert Creeley, Publisher: Shambala/Mudra, 1971
VIDEO
1977 The Art of Pastel, Sharyle Patton, Director
1980 The Art of Oil Painting, Sharyle Patton, Director, made in collaboration with Marin County Video
1978 Screen Printing, Magda Cregg Productions
TELEVISION
1972 Pastel Drawings for Television Movie "The People," John Korty, Director
LISTINGS
Who's Who in America
Who's Who in the West
Who's Who in American Art
Who's Who Among Asian Americans
SET DESIGN
1998 Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, Martin Luther King Park, Berkeley, CA
1997 Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, Bandshell - Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albright, Thomas, “Exotic Subjects in Abstract Realism”, San Francisco Chronicle, February 10, 1981.
Boettger, Suzaan, “Broom's Sculpture: Whimsical Art Providing Something to Chew,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 29, 1982.
Hays, Joanne Burstein, “Beyond Ceramic Traditions,” Artweek, October 27, 1984.
Mancuso, Jo, “Fish Out of Water,”Image, January 4, 1987.
March, Al, “Okamura's still‐lifes are on the move,” S.F. Examiner, June 14, 1982.
Nagin, Carl, “Magic Markings,” SF Weekly, November 12, 2003.
“The Primitive and the Tropical,” Artweek, February 21, 1981.
Stiles, Knute, “Art,” The Voice February 13, 1981.
Shere, Charles, “Okamura's art reflects visit to Bali,” Tribune/Today, February 24, 1981.
Thompson, Peter, ed.; “John Rosenbaum and Arthur Okamura," Catalogue, The Civic Arts Gallery, May 21 ‐ June 28,1975.
“Tropical Visions,” TransAmerica Pyramid Announcement, January 13, 1986.
Arthur Okamura
Rock Series #6, 2009
acrylic on canvas
12 x 16 in.
Arthur Okamura
Untitled (Orange and Pink Flowers), c. 1967
watercolor on paper
18 x 14 15/16 in.
Arthur Okamura
Untitled (Garden Pond), c. 1967
watercolor on paper
6 3/8 x 5 1/16 in
