Chiura Obata: Signed Watercolor Painting of a Black Kitten

A black kitten fixes the viewer with hypnotic, lemon-yellow eyes that are narrowed to ovals. Its posture is very kitten-like, front legs a bit splayed. Obata seems to have used layers of grey and black pigments, applied with a fine, dry brush, to imitate the fur. Areas of soft grey help to give dimension to the body. He has even shown a whorled patch of fur near the hindquarters that makes the kitten even more lifelike. Obata could paint in a way that was almost photographically realistic, and he could also paint with more modernist expression; this kitten has some aspects of both. Obata’s mastery of the brush was so complete that he could paint in many different styles, all of them unique to his experience and training. In addition to painting landscapes, flower arrangements and still lifes, Obata also painted dogs, fish, zoo animals (including ostriches) and horses; he would take every opportunity to capture the world around him.  There are only a few known extant watercolors of domestic cats. As Obata himself wrote “...if the artist is full of individuality, the product is also full of individuality, and it is a true artwork.” (See page 127 of Chiura Obata: An American Modern). Obata taught at Berkeley between 1932 and 1954, and the University of California, Berkeley preserved many of his paintings while Obata and his family were interned in Utah during WWII.  

The most recent exhibition of Obata’s work ran for the first half of 2024 at SFMOMA.

Provenance: Estate of Chiura Obata. With a certificate of authenticity from the estate of the artist.

Signed: Chiura Obata with artist's red seal