Chiura Obata
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Chiura Obata was the most prominent practitioner of the modern nihonga (Japanese painting) movement, which sought to reconcile the practices of traditional Japanese and contemporary European schools of art. Accompanied by his wife, Haruko Kohashi, who helped introduce ikebana (the art of flower arrangement) to the Bay Area, Obata gave hundreds of public lectures and demonstrations that introduced audiences to Japanese art and aesthetics.
What is the value of nature in your life?
Obata’s Mother Earth depicts the artist’s young wife during her pregnancy. She stands in a grove of redwood trees, her long dark hair covering her body. The title evokes nature, fertility, maternity, and the cycles and seasons of life. Although his Japanese wife served as his model, Obata transformed this personal subject into a universal ode to nature, once observing: “Above the border line of nationality everybody must feel a deep appreciation toward Mother Earth.”
Gift of the Obata Family
\ Also in this gallery
