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Arthur Okamura - Artists - Paul Thiebaud Gallery

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #2, 2008

acrylic on canvas

55 x 27 1/2 in.

Known for his screen printing and abstract expressionist paintings, Arthur Okamura (1932–2009) was a Japanese American artist who rose to prominence in the 1960s as a book illustrator and member of an artist community based in Bolinas, California. 

Born in Long Beach, Okamura grew up in Southern California with his family. During World War II, he and his family were detained at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and later transferred to the Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado, where they were incarcerated for three years. Okamura was 10 years old when he entered the “internment camps.” 

After the war, his family was released and moved to Chicago. There, Okamura began his art career at a silkscreen poster studio at age 15. After graduating high school, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale School of Art, and University of Chicago. He held his solo first exhibition at the Frank Ryan Gallery in Chicago and was later awarded a fellowship to study painting in Mallorca. 

In 1956, Okamura moved from Chicago back to California. While he initially lived in San Francisco, he eventually settled in Bolinas. Once established in the artist community there, Okamura illustrated multiple books of poetry by friends. In 1971, he created the pastel drawings for the television movie “The People.” In addition to working as an artist, Okamura taught at the California College of the Arts in Oakland for 31 years, retiring in 1997 as professor emeritus. During his retirement, he wrote and illustrated magic trick books, including “Paper Propeller, the Jumping Frog, the Spinning Quarter: And 38 Other Amazing Tricks You Can Do With Stuff Lying Around the House.” Today, his work can be found in multiple prominent art museums and at the New School at Commonweal in Bolinas, where he served on the board of directors.

ARTHUR OKAMURA

Born  Long Beach, CA 1932

Died  Bolinas, CA 2009

 

EDUCATION

1954  Yale University Summer Art Seminar

1951, 1953, 1957  University of Chicago

1950-54  The Art Institute of Chicago

 

SCHOLARSHIPS

1950-1954  Art Institute (four years)

1954  Yale University Summer Art Seminar

1954  Edward L. Ryerson, Foreign Travel Fellowship

 

TEACHING

1997  Professor Emeritus, California College of Arts & Crafts

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

1966-1997  California College of Arts & Crafts (Professor of Fine Arts)

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

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

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, CO

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

Auchenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco, CA

Borg Warner Collection, Chicago, IL

California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA

California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA

Cincinnati Art Museum, OH

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Container Corporation of America

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, D

Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA

Phoenix Art Museum, AZ

Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, IL

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA

Santa Barbara Museum, CA

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Stanford University Collection, Palo Alto, CA

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

 

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 Study #2, 2008

acrylic on canvas

55 x 27 1/2 in.

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #2, 2008

acrylic on canvas

55 x 27 1/2 in.

Inquire
Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #3, 2008

acrylic on canvas

36 x 18 in.

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #3, 2008

acrylic on canvas

36 x 18 in.

Inquire
Arthur Okamura

Jungle Garden, 2002

oil on canvas

24 x 36 in.

Arthur Okamura

Jungle Garden, 2002

oil on canvas

24 x 36 in.

Inquire
Arthur Okamura

Garden Patterns II, 2008

oil on canvas

30 x 40 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden Patterns II, 2008

oil on canvas

30 x 40 in.

Inquire
Arthur Okamura

Garden I, 2003

acrylic on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden I, 2003

acrylic on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Inquire
Arthur Okamura

Garden II, 2003

oil on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden II, 2003

oil on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Inquire
Arthur Okamura

Garden Rose, 1968

watercolor on paper

17 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

SOLD

Arthur Okamura

Garden Rose, 1968

watercolor on paper

17 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

SOLD

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #2, 2008

acrylic on canvas

55 x 27 1/2 in.

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #2, 2008

acrylic on canvas

55 x 27 1/2 in.

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #3, 2008

acrylic on canvas

36 x 18 in.

Arthur Okamura

Rock Study #3, 2008

acrylic on canvas

36 x 18 in.

Arthur Okamura

Jungle Garden, 2002

oil on canvas

24 x 36 in.

Arthur Okamura

Jungle Garden, 2002

oil on canvas

24 x 36 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden Patterns II, 2008

oil on canvas

30 x 40 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden Patterns II, 2008

oil on canvas

30 x 40 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden I, 2003

acrylic on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden I, 2003

acrylic on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden II, 2003

oil on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden II, 2003

oil on canvas

18 x 24 in.

Arthur Okamura

Garden Rose, 1968

watercolor on paper

17 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

SOLD

Arthur Okamura

Garden Rose, 1968

watercolor on paper

17 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

SOLD