Paul Horiuchi

 ( 1906 Births ) 

When Horiuchi had been in the U.S. for about a year, his 45-year-old father died of stomach cancer and his mother returned to Japan with the three younger children shortly afterwards.Paul Horiuchi: East and West, p.5, by Barbara Johns; University of Washington Press, 2008 Chikamasa and Toshimasa were left with very little money to live on as they tried to both support their mother and pay off debts which their father had incurred. In 1929, the brothers opened a radio sales and repair shop, but it was soon lost in the Great Depression, and they returned to work on the railroad.

Horiuchi painted in his free time, mostly doing landscapes in the Sumi-e style, but experimenting with more modern American and European approaches as well. He received some notice in newspapers in Wyoming and Utah."Within the last two years, Horiuchi, snowbound on the bleak red desert during the winter months, has turned out 150 paintings of merit"; Salt Lake City Tribune, July 7, 1929 During trips to Seattle to visit his cousin Shigetoshi, he met and befriended the painters Kenjiro Nomura and Kamekichi Tokita, who were important influences. He also became friends with Tamotsu Takizaki, a zen master and Kendo instructor who would play an important role in shaping his career.

In 1934, during a visit to Seattle, he met and fell in love with Bernadette Suda, who was seven years younger than he. Shigetoshi and Takizaki helped arrange their courtship, and, after Horiuchi converted to Catholic Church and changed his first name to "Paul" in homage to Paul Cézanne, they married in Seattle in 1935. On moving back to Rock Springs with her new husband, Bernadette was shocked by life in Union Pacific company housing, which had neither electricity or indoor plumbing, but soon adapted. They had two sons, Paul, Jr. and Jon (a third, Vincent, was born later, in Seattle). In 1937, Horiuchi, who had continued to use 'Kamakura', officially reverted to his real last name.

Although conditions were rough in Wyoming, Horiuchi was making good money, was able to purchase a new car, made regular trips to visit friends and family in Seattle, and continued to develop his painting skills, often using his wife and children as subject matter. In 1938, paintings of his were included in Annual Exhibitions at the Oakland Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.Paul Horiuchi: East and West, p.21, by Barbara Johns; University of Washington Press, 2008

The advent of the Second World War brought extreme hardship for the Horiuchis. They lived far enough inland that they were not subject to forced relocation, but all Japanese were immediately fired by Union Pacific and evicted from company housing. People of Japanese ancestry were often physically threatened, and denied decent work and housing. The Horiuchis were forced to live in a homemade trailer much of the time, while Paul worked various temporary, menial jobs. Unable to carry it with them, and fearing it would get them in trouble with the authorities, Horiuchi burned his collection of old Japanese books and prints;"Paul Horiuchi, A Hard Won Harmony", Regina Hackett, ArtsJournal Web Blog - http://www.artsjournal.com/anotherbb/2010/03/paul_horiuchi_-_a_modest_yet_e.html a collection of twenty-five of his best paintings, left with a friend, was destroyed in a flood. At one point, the family applied for placement in a relocation camp (a not uncommon occurrence for desperate Japanese-Americans seeking shelter and food), but were denied.

In 1944, the almost 40-year-old Horiuchi was offered a job as an apprentice Auto mechanic in Spokane, Washington, and from there his luck began to change.

In 1953, a change in the law allowed Horiuchi to become a U.S. citizen.US Department of State, Office of the Historian: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act); http://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/ImmigrationAct

Through Takizaki he met and became close friends with the painter Mark Tobey,Woodside/Braseth Gallery; artist profile http://www.woodsidebrasethgallery.com/artists/paul-horiuchi/ which led Horiuchi to re-examine his own approach to art. He became increasingly interested in collage, and began experimenting with the fusion of elements of traditional Japanese collage with more modern techniques, styles, and materials. At its most basic level, he was combining 'Eastern' shikishi design with 'Western' abstract expressionism, but injecting it with a unique energy, perhaps born of Horiuchi's numerous personal ups and downs and dislocations. He gradually gained command of this new style and, in the late 1950s, his work became increasingly popular.

edited by Gordon H. Chang, Mark Dean Johnson, Paul J. Karlstrom, Sharon Spain; p.72 Stanford University Press, 2008 It was a spectacular success, with twenty-two out of twenty-five paintings quickly sold. The following year, the first solo museum exhibition of his work was held at the Seattle Art Museum, and he gained his first broad exposure outside the Northwest when some of his pieces were chosen for the Rome-New York Art Foundation Exhibit, in New York and Rome.