School House Antiques has dated this piece to the 1950s.
A Brilliant & rather unsettling surrealist oil painting by Arthur Okamura painted during the 1950s . Signed lower right. 127cm x 77cm / 135cm x 84cm framed .
Biography
Arthur Okamura (1932–2009) was a Japanese American artist who rose to prominence in the 1960s .
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 with a silkscreen poster studio at age 15.
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 . 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.
His work can be found in multiple prominent art museums .
UK delivery : £60
School House Antiques has dated this piece to the 1950s.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the School House Antiques Profile Page
20th Century Surrealist Oil Painting by Arthur Okamura
