Born in Okayama, Japan in 1885, Chiura Obata moved to San Francisco in 1903. His impactful career included an art professorship at UC Berkeley, the founding of a Bay Area artists’ collective called East West Art Society, and the creation of art schools in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II. Obata is particularly known for his depictions of the American West, in which he sought to capture the brilliance of what he called “Great Nature.”
In this watercolor, Obata encapsulates the essence of a chilly February day in the mountains. The scene is blanketed in snow, masking the barrier between the ground and the mountains, and creating the sensation of a world transformed into a serene, wintry wonderland. The awe-inspiring mountains remind us of nature’s power and sublimity, a notion that is fundamental to Obata’s personal philosophy. There is a feeling of reverence in the painting, with the muted colors and loose brushwork projecting an aura of peace and calm that only time spent in the mountains can provide.
Guest author curatorial fellow: Kendall Clawson da Silva
