Customer Reviews

Obata's Yosemite: The Art and Letters of Chiura Obata from His Trip to the High Sierra in 1927

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Chiura Obata (1885-1975) was an artist who, amongst other things, loved Yosemite. He was born in Japan where he became well ground in traditional Japanese painting and was exposed to Western art. His personal views looked forward and became involved the progressive nihonga movement. Obata immigarated to California in 1903. He traveled up and down the coast painting and eventualy became a teacher at the University of California at Berkeley. And he discovered the beauty of Yosemite where he spent part of one summer immersed in its wonders and continually sketching and painting watercolors. This book reproduces some of that work and the woodblock prints derived from it. Also included is a brief biography, some historical background, detailed information about the woodblick prints and excerpts from his Yosemite journal.

I was suprised (maybe I shouldn't have, but I was) to learn Obata met Ansel Adams there in the early 1930s. They apparently got on well together. I'd be curious to learn more about their meeting.

A great introduction to Obata, his work and to Yosemite. Really.

This volume reproduces art by Chiura Obata, a Japanese painter (1885-1975). He was born in Japan and came to California in 1903. In 1927, he traveled extensively in Yosemite, completing about 100 sumi and watercolor paintings in a few short weeks. He briefly returned to Japan and, over a period of 18 months, supervised the block printing of 35 of these paintings. Each painting required many blocks and impressions to reproduce the colors. 32 carvers and 40 printers worked on the project. The book reproduces both original and woodblock art, both of which are wonderful, although I preferred the originals. The text includes commentary by several experts as well as writings about the trip by Obata. One commentator wrote "...there would be times when he would reach a temporary limit of producing paintings. Then he would dig from his bag a bit of red stone or a piece of white quartz found near some deserted mine, gather a bit of moss, a willow twig or a tiny fern and plant a Japanese garden the size of one's palm." (page 138) He captured nature on paper or silk and created beauty wherever he could, on small scale and large. An inspiring book.

This is an extraordinarily beautiful and moving book, Obata's watercolors, prints and sketches are exquisite, the description of the making of his woodblock prints fascinating, his story, told by a biographer deeply moving, and his own "diary" of his summer spent in the Sierra mountains vivid, colorful, and a wonderful window into the life of this Japanese immigrant in the early years of the past century.

The book does justice to Obata's beautiful art as well as the wonderful scenes he portrayed.

There was no problem with the book, which I was familiar witih, but it arrived damaged because of poor packaging. One corner was bashed in and I was unable to give it as a gift.

Took 10 months to get this book from Amazon, but it was worth the wait. Obata's artwork is reproduced very nicely in the book.