The papers of California-based painter Tokio Ueyama (1889-1954) measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1908-circa 1954, bulk 1914-1945. This small but rich collection includes biographical material in the form of a family tree, travel documents, identification cards, records related to the World War II Japanese American incarceration camp, Amache Relocation Center, and other materials; correspondence with friends and family, most of which is written in Japanese; writings such as a diary and a notebook from his time as a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art; printed materials including news clippings and exhibition announcements; a sketchbook; and photographs of friends and family during a trip to Japan. Also included are printouts of an item-level inventory created by Grace Nozaki, Ueyama's niece, and translations of select entries from the diaries produced by Noriko Okada.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California-based painter Tokio Ueyama (1889-1954) measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1908-circa 1954, bulk 1914-1945. This small but rich collection includes biographical material in the form of a family tree, travel documents, identification cards, records related to the World War II Japanese American incarceration camp, Amache Relocation Center, and other materials; correspondence with friends and family, most of which is written in Japanese; writings such as a diary and a notebook from his time as a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art; printed materials including news clippings and exhibition announcements; a sketchbook; and photographs of friends and family during a trip to Japan. Also included are printouts of an item-level inventory created by Grace Nozaki, Ueyama's niece, and translations of select entries from the diaries produced by Noriko Okada.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Tokio Ueyama Papers, 1908-circa 1954, bulk 1914-1945 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OVs 3-4)
Biographical / Historical:
Tokio Ueyama (1889-1954) was a painter of still lifes, portraits, and landscapes who was primarily based in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Ueyama was born in Wakayama, Japan, in 1889 and immigrated to the United States after high school around 1908. He studied at the San Francisco Institute of Art, University of Southern California (B.A. in 1914), and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he received the Cresson travel scholarship which allowed him to travel to Europe from 1920 to 1922. During his time abroad, Ueyama studied painting in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
In 1922, Ueyama returned to Los Angeles and founded a painting association with three other Japanese American artists. He exhibited his paintings around Southern California and in Mexico City, where he travelled in 1924 and met and exchanged paintings with Diego Rivera. Sometime around 1928, he met and married a woman named Suye (née Tsukada).
In 1942, Ueyama and wife were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to World War II Japanese American incarceration camps: Santa Anita Assembly Center in California and then the Amache Relocation Center (also referred to as Granada Relocation Center) in Colorado. Ueyama taught art to fellow incarcerees at Amache. In late 1945, the Ueyamas returned to Los Angeles and opened Bunkado, a gift shop selling a variety of Japanese goods that is open to this day. He continued to paint and be active in the art world and remained in Los Angeles until his death in 1954.
Provenance:
The Tokio Ueyama papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2023 by Grace Nozaki, Ueyama's niece.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Landscape painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Tokio Ueyama papers, 1908-circa 1954, bulk 1914-1945. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
The papers of artist and teacher Ruth G. Barnet with material related to Japanese American painter and educator Chiura Obata measure 0.5 linear feet and dates from circa 1950-1968. This small collection includes New Year's cards illustrated by Chiura Obata, Ruth Barnet's notes and watercolor studies executed under Obata's supervision during classes, sumi (Japanese ink) and watercolor paint sketches by Obata that he used for painting class demonstrations, and a small amount of printed material on Obata.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist and teacher Ruth G. Barnet with material related to Japanese American painter and educator Chiura Obata measure 0.5 linear feet and dates from circa 1950-1968. This small collection includes New Year's cards illustrated by Chiura Obata, Ruth Barnet's notes and watercolor studies executed under Obata's supervision during classes, sumi (Japanese ink) and watercolor paint sketches by Obata that he used for painting class demonstrations, and a small amount of printed material on Obata.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Ruth G. Barnet material related to Chiura Obata, circa 1950-1968 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4)
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth G. Barnet (1918-2018) was an artist and teacher in Berkeley, California. Barnet studied with Japanese American landscape painter Chiura Obata (1885-1975) at University of California, Berkeley. Barnet is author of Free Brush Designing (1955), an instructional book influenced by her lessons learned from Obata.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Chiura Obata papers, 1891-2000.
Provenance:
The Ruth G. Barnet material related to Chiura Obata were donated to the Archives of American Art by Elna Hunter, Ruth Barnet's daughter, in 2022.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- Berkeley Search this
Ruth G. Barnet material related to Chiura Obata, circa 1950-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided in part by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The papers of painter Cady Wells measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1968. The collection provides a range of documentation of Wells' life and career, namely as a landscape artist in New Mexico and as a servicemember of the United States Army during World War II. Among these materials are twenty-two personal journals; correspondence with friends, family, and art organizations; preliminary sketches and watercolors; fourteen sketchbooks; photographs; printed material; biographical material; and documents related to his professional affiliations.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Cady Wells measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1968. The collection provides a range of documentation of Wells' life and career, namely as a landscape artist in New Mexico and as a servicemember of the United States Army during World War II. Among these materials are twenty-two personal journals; correspondence with friends, family, and art organizations; preliminary sketches and watercolors; fourteen sketchbooks; photographs; printed material; biographical material; and documents related to his professional affiliations.
Biographical material consists largely of documents and awards pertaining to Wells' military service in the 1940s. A large collection of correspondence provides a broader perspective of Wells' personal and professional affiliations, including a number of letters from his friend and painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Writings feature twenty-two nearly uninterrupted personal journals from the age of thirteen to his death at age 49, providing candid insight to Wells' upbringing, family and friends, creative pursuits, and life during wartime. A variety of printed material includes exhibition announcements and brochures, art periodicals, and news clippings from his lifetime. A small amount of documents outline his professional affiliations, highlighting his support of both established and emerging art organizations of the 1930s-1950s. Fourteen sketchbooks and a variety of loose preliminary drawings and watercolors trace Wells' development as an artist during his time in New Mexico. Photographs feature images of Wells throughout his life, along with his personal photos of family and friends, including one photo each of Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe. A scrapbook provides additional printed material pertaining to Wells' exhibitions and the greater Sante Fe arts community.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as eight series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1940-1945 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1913-1968 (14 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1918-1954 (24 folders; Boxes 2-3)
Series 4: Printed Material, circa 1910s-1950s (8 folders; Boxes 3-4)
Series 5: Professional Affiliations, circa 1930s-1950s (1 folder; Box 4)
Series 6: Artworks, circa 1930s-1950s (10 folders; Box 4)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1920s-1950s (9 folders; Box 4)
Series 8: Scrapbook, circa 1920s=1950s (4 folders; Box 5)
Biographical / Historical:
Cady Wells (1904-1954) was a painter and a patron of the arts, most associated with the Santa Fe, New Mexico, landscape artists of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Southbridge, Massachusetts, Wells was raised in an affluent family, and pursued music as a concert pianist before discovering his passion for painting. Upon moving to New Mexico in 1932, Wells quickly gained rapport with regional modernist painters Andrew Dasburg and Georgia O'Keeffe. His artistic career was interrupted in the first half of the 1940s while he served in the United States Army during World War II. Returning to New Mexico in the mid-1940s, his innovative command of pattern and color earned him a reputation as a significant landscape painter of the American Southwest. Along with his original contributions, Wells was an avid supporter of his local arts community, assisting in the development of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society and the Museum of New Mexico.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in 1975 by Mason B. Wells, brother of Cady Wells.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.