Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
Interview of Kenzo Okada conducted 1968 November 22, by Forrest Selvig, for the Archives of American Art.
Okada discusses his background; wanting to be a painter since age 15 and his father being against the idea; attending Tokyo Fine Arts University and studying Western art tradition there; going to Paris in 1924 to study on his own; meeting Alberto Giacometti in Paris; returning to Japan in 1927; interest in Western art; exhibiting in Japan; his painting style; coming to the United States in 1950; and appreciating Japan and Japanese culture. Okada mentions Marie Laurencin, Bradley Tomlin, Clyfford Still, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Betty Parsons, Mark Rothko, Nishita (Japanese philosopher), and Mark Tobey.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Kenzo Okada, 1968 November 22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/okada68.htm
Item is a transcript.
Location of Originals:
Location of original tape unknown.
Biography Note:
Kenzo Okada (1902-1982) was a Japanese American painter based in New York City, New York.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art's Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001