Tokio Ueyama papers
name: label: Creator
content: Ueyama, Tokio, 1889-1954
topic: label: Occupation
content: Landscape painters -- California -- San Francisco
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American art -- United States
label: Topic
content: Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Tokio Ueyama papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2023 by Grace Nozaki, Ueyama's niece.
creator: label: Creator
content: Ueyama, Tokio, 1889-1954
setName: label: See more items in
content: Tokio Ueyama papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Tokio Ueyama (1889-1954) was a painter of still lifes, portraits, and landscapes who was primarily based in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California.­ Ueyama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.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.8 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1908-circa 1954
label: Date
content: bulk 1914-1945
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ueyatoki
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: 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)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, prepared for digitization, and described in a finding aid by Rihoko Ueno in 2023 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: This collection was digitized in 2024 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.