Obata: Watercolor of Ikebana Flower Arrangement of Wild Dahlias in Vase (Sold)

2025-12-26T21:02:04-08:00

Price: 5500.00

Artist: Chiura Obata (1885-1975)
Title: Watercolor of Ikebana of Wild Orange Dahlias
Date: August 22nd 1937

Watercolor painting of a flower arrangement featuring orange dahlias that have been carefully presented in a copper-colored vase atop a vase stand. The flowers may be Dahlia coccinea, also known as wild dahlia, due their single rows of eight petals (ray florets). Obata has captured the flowers at several angles, and meticulously includes the correct number of petals on each bloom. We may infer that this painting captures an arrangement created by Obata's wife Haruko. Haruko Obata was one of the first teachers of ikebana in the San Francisco Bay Area, and wrote “An Illustrated Handbook of Japanese Flower Arrangement” (Berkeley 1940). This book featured numerous ink illustrations by Chiura. Several similar watercolor portraits of flowers are shown in recently published book “Chiura Obata: An American Modern” (UCal Press, 2018) on pages 60-63. At the time of this painting, Obata was teaching at UC Berkeley, where he taught between 1932 and 1954. The University of California, Berkeley preserved many of his paintings while Obata and his family were unjustly interned in Utah during WWII. Provenance: Estate of Chiura Obata. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity from the estate.

Condition: Excellent condition overall. The paper was backed by the artist, as verso there is an old price in pencil as well as "dahlia".
Dimensions: 52.6 x 39.5 cm
Provenance: Provenance: Estate of Chiura Obata. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity from the Estate of the artist.
Signature: Chiura Obata Seal: Artists seal