On View
Not on viewObject number1971/2.7
Towada Lake
Artist
Chiura Obata
(American, 1885-1975)
Dateca. 1930-1970
Mediumscroll; ink and wash on silk
Dimensionsimage: 32 1/4 × 20 3/8 in. (81.9 × 51.8 cm)
mount: 5 ft. 1 in. × 26 1/2 in. (154.9 × 67.3 cm)
mount: 5 ft. 1 in. × 26 1/2 in. (154.9 × 67.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Gilmore
Exhibition History"Vistas: Visions of China, Japan, and Korea," KIA Joy Light Gallery of Asian Art (Oct. 20, 2021 - Feb. 6, 2022)Label Text“We feel the presence [in sumi-e] of a certain moving spirit, that mysteriously hovers around the lines, dots, and shades of various formations.” --D.T. Suzuki, scholar of Zen Buddhism
Through sweeping sheets of rain and distant mists, Chiura Obata grants us a tantalizing glimpse of the craggy volcanic basin of Lake Towada—Japan’s largest crater lake. The Japanese-American artist is best known for his paintings of California’s Yosemite, but in this work he recalls a treasured national park in northern Japan. Obata’s mastery of the sumi-e tradition is apparent in the confident energy guiding his brush, along with his facility in handling gradations of light to dark ink and the time-honored focus on the natural world.
Sumi-e, Japanese ink painting, is essentially a monochromatic form of watercolor. Because a wash of ink cannot be modified afterwards, the artist must study and internalize the essence of the object or scene before touching brush to paper. Obata instructed his students not to paint directly from life, but instead, to paint the recalled impression of the scene at a later date. Sumi-e may be understood as a kind of spare, visual poetry expressing the artist’s personal feelings about nature, rather than its actual appearance.
By the time he painted this work, however, Obata had become adept at blending Western and Eastern ways of seeing. The framing of the composition, dynamic expression of rain, and somewhat naturalistic descriptions--such as the reflections of rock in the rain-dappled water--present a level of drama and detail that may have developed from the artist’s exposure to Western practices.
The young, precocious Obata began to train as an ink painter at age seven and at age 14 ran away to Tokyo where he was attracted to artists who were experimenting with Western styles of painting. In 1903, the 17-year-old booked passage to San Francisco and made California his home. In an inspiring immigrant’s tale, he became a respected professor at UC, Berkeley, and dedicated his life to building cross-cultural understanding. Through the dark days of discrimination toward Asian immigrants and WWII internment camps, Obata recognized that by teaching Japanese art, he could transform Americans’ fascination with an “exotic” art form into deeper cultural understanding and acceptance. [Collection Highlight]
