The United Gas Pipe Line Company Collection

UGPL 0004 Okamura, Arthur, Nasturtium Field, acrylic on canvas, 50” x 64,” 1975 illus: p 11

Arthur Okamura (1932- )

Written in 1976 for the catalog and reproduced as printed, with spelling corrected. Not current.

The lush coolness of a bed of nasturtiums, their vivid orange flares almost hidden by a deep bank of green and shadowed blue, is the subject of Arthur Okamura’s beautiful painting.

Okamura was born in Long Beach, California, in 1932 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University, and the University of Chicago. He held an Art Institute scholarship from 1950 to 1954, and a Ryerson Foreign Travel Fellowship in 1954.

His many exhibitions have included group shows at the Chicago Art Institute; the Museum of Modern Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Whitney Museum; and the Knoedler Gallery in New York. One-man shows of his work have been seen at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1973; the California College of Arts and Crafts, 1972; Hansen Fuller Gallery in San Francisco; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Oakland Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Okamura has won many prizes and awards. His work is in the permanent collections of the Hirshhorn Museum, the Container Corporation of America, the Johnson Wax Collection, the Whitney Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Corcoran Gallery.

From The Art Collection of United Gas Pipe Line Company (Houston, 1976), curated by Susan Rush.

The Crocker National Bank Collection

Arthur Okamura
“Reef/Moon”
oil on canvas
48″ × 60″, 1978

Okamura was born in Long Beach, California, in 1932 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University, and the University of Chicago. He held an Art Institute scholarship from 1950 to 1954, and a Ryerson Foreign Travel Fellowship in 1954.

His many exhibitions have included group shows at the Chicago Art Institute; the Museum of Modern Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Whitney Museum; and the Knoedler Gallery in New York. One-man shows of his work have been seen at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1973; the California College of Arts and Crafts, 1972; Hansen Fuller Gallery in San Francisco; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Oakland Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Okamura has won many prizes and awards. His work is in the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum, the Container Corporation of America, the Johnson Wax Collection, the Whitney Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Corcoran Gallery.

From The Art Collection of the Crocker National Bank, curated by Susan Rush.