Oral history interview with Kenzo Okada
name: label: Interviewee
content: Okada, Kenzo, 1902-1982
label: Interviewer
content: Selvig, Forrest
label: Names
content: Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku
label: Names
content: Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966
label: Names
content: Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953
label: Names
content: Laurencin, Marie, 1883-1956
label: Names
content: Parsons, Betty, 1900-1982
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970
label: Names
content: Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980
label: Names
content: Tobey, Mark
label: Names
content: Tomlin, Bradley Walker, 1899-1953
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Asian American art
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American art
label: Topic
content: Japanese American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Okada, Kenzo, 1902-1982
label: Interviewer
content: Selvig, Forrest
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Kenzo Okada (1902-1982) was a Japanese American painter based in New York City, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 44 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1968 November 22
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.okada68
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/okada68.htm
label: Reproduction Note
content: Item is a transcript.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Location of original tape unknown.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Interview of Kenzo Okada conducted 1968 November 22, by Forrest Selvig, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.