Description
Tetsuo (Bob) Ochikubo (Japanese American, 1923-1975) "Prelude Number 1" Oil Painting. Abstract 1956 modern oil on canvas painting inscribed on back of stretcher; Name: Ochikubo Title: Prelude Number 1. Label on reverse lower right marked Prelude, Ochikubo, United States,1956. Painting measures 40 inches high,51.5 inches wide. Frame measures 41 inches high, 52.5 inches wide. Blacklight reveals a few small dots of touch up otherwise in good condition.
From AskArt: Tetsuo Ochikubo (1923-1975), also known as Bob Ochikubo, was a Japanese-American painter and printmaker who was born in Waipahu, Hawaii, Honolulu county, Hawaii. He served in the United States Army as an infantryman in Europe during World War II. After being discharged from the Army, he studied painting and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago* and at the Art Students League* of New York. He worked at Tamarind Institute* in the 1960s and is best known for his entirely abstract paintings and lithographs*. Along with Satoru Abe, Bumpei Akaji, Edmund Chung, Jerry T. Okimoto, James Park, and Tadashi Sato, Tetsuo Ochikubo was a member of the Metcalf Chateau, a group of seven Asian-American artists with ties to Honolulu. Ochikubo died from drowning in Hilo, Hawaii in 1975. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, New York), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Hawaii State Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D. C.), and the Honolulu Museum of Art are among the public collections holding works by Tetsuo Ochikubo.
Ochikubo was a Japanese-American painter, sculptor, and printmaker who was born in Waipahu, Hawaii, Honolulu county, Hawaii. Ochikubo fought as a soldier in World War II. After being discharged from the Army, he studied painting and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago under the G. I. Bill. He eventually returned to Hawaii which is where he lived, studied at The Art Students League, and held his studio practice. Ochikubo was inspired by nature as well as his inner feelings. He aimed to translate what he saw in nature, its patterns and colors, plus his own personal emotions into visual form. Ochikubo looked to both eastern and western artistic influences, but he ultimately channeled eastern philosophy and artistic theory into his work. Ochikubo became both Whitney and Guggheim Museum Fellows between the years of 1957-1959, this allowed him to maintain a studio practice in New York. His paintings from this period in the late 50’s and early 60’s were critically acclaimed. He primarily showed at Krasner Galleries in Manhattan having solo shows. He had many other group shows in other US and international locations during this time. Ochikubo looked to the Gutai school of painters in Japan. Gutai translates as 'concreteness', and it expressed one of the distinct traits of the group. They aimed to physically engage with a range of materials. Ochikubo would also do carpentry and fix furniture when he found a need for more physical expression. He would then return to painting, relieved and invigorated by expressing his creativity in a different format. Ochikubo believed that an artist needs to create whatever they feel like creating, whether it is painting, prints, or sculpture, as they felt necessary. Freedom of artistic expression was key. Ochikubo also enjoyed print making, but found that he lost interest after the initial creative labor stopped and the printing process began. Ochikubo worked at Tamarind Institute in the 1960s and is best known for his entirely abstract paintings and lithographs. Along with Satoru Abe, Bumpei Akaji, Edmund Chung, Jerry T. Okimoto, James Park, and Tadashi Sato, Tetsuo Ochikubo was a member of the “Metcalf Chateau”, a group of seven Asian-American artists with ties to Honolulu. Ochikubo died in Kawaihae, Hawaii in 1975. The artist is currently part of a group show at The Honolulu Museum of art showing De Kooning, Abe, Pollock, Rothko, Takaezu and Motherwell amongst others.
From Wikipedia: Tetsuo Ochikubo (1923–1975), also known as Bob Ochikubo, was a Japanese-American painter, sculpture, and printmaker who was born in Waipahu, Hawaii, Honolulu county, Hawaii. During the Second World War, he served with the 100th Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. After being discharged from the Army, he studied painting and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Art Students League of New York. In 1953, he spent a year in Japan, studying traditional brush painting and connecting with his ancestry. He worked at Tamarind Institute in the 1960s and is best known for his entirely abstract paintings and lithographs. Along with Satoru Abe, Bumpei Akaji, Edmund Chung, Jerry T. Okimoto, James Park, and Tadashi Sato, Tetsuo Ochikubo was a member of the Metcalf Chateau, a group of seven Asian-American artists with ties to Honolulu. Ochikubo died in Kawaihae, Hawaii in 1975. Tetsuo Ochikubo's comments on art. "My ultimate purpose in painting is to be an artist of substance and consequence; to understand and to be understood. I am confident in my work and have progressed, sometimes painfully, surely but slowly. I can think of nothing finer than to achieve a personality of minimum weakness, to be able to understand life in its thousands of facets, to eliminate arbitrary and contrary truth, to have the function and command of beauty at the tip of my brush. In every way, painting is the medium for achieving my ultimate purpose. My world is unique. I understand many facets of both East and West. If this area is truly manifest, it is a genuine universal art. I use symbols, non-symbols, and nature to achieve my artistic objectives. While creating, I express only the affection of my subconscious feeling. Why do I paint the way I paint? This is the old question for which there is no direct answer. For example, one master said to another, 'I play with six lions.' The other replied, 'I play with one lion.' My art is for myself and no more. To sit and contemplate is only for fools. As an artist, you must have the plastic proof. If you want to learn to paint, go out and talk to the trees. If you do not understand her, nature can be a hole out of which there is no escape. If consistency signifies growth and knowledge, it can also be the oppressor of creativity." These were the words of Tetsuo Ochikubo, edited by Dr. Laurence Schmeckebier, who was the Dean of the School of Art, Syracuse University. "In the olden days, if you were going to be an artist you would starve; so my mother didn't want me to be a fine artist. [After the war] I worked as a commercial artist; then I went to Chicago and New York to study fine art. I painted every day, about sixteen hours a day. My wife worked, and so I didn't. As weeks went by I would put less time into my painting because I would get exhausted; so I thought I would do something physical to relax my mind. I started to do carpentry work -- fixing furniture -- [and then turned to printmaking]. An artist should do everything he wants to do. When he gets up in the morning and says, "I want to do a sculpture!" he should be able to go out and do a sculpture. Next morning he can say, "I don't want to do sculpture, I want to print," and then be able to do printing. I don't classify myself as an abstract artist. If the feeling is abstract, then yes, I am painting abstract -- the feeling and the subconscious emotions are slowing pushed out. Whenever I have an idea, I put it down on paper. I see rocks and tree formations. I get a lot of ideas from nature. I enjoy printmaking, but it's all physical labor once the design is made, and then I don't have any pleasure in it. My favorite way of printmaking is lithography, somethings combined with etching. Black-and-white is one thing, but with color graphs. you can cut out shapes and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. I feel I understand the East and the West. Now my influence is very Oriental. I am very inclined to Oriental philosophy.
