Henry Fukuhara

Henry Fukuhara was one of the great American watercolor artists. He continued painting until his death, at the age of 96, in 2010. Even though Fukuhara had gone completely blind for the last few years of his life, he continued to paint with an assistant to hand him tools. He was able to paint landscapes completely by memory and touch. The artist lived on both coasts during his lifetime, as well as spending time in Tokyo.

I like the that Fukuhara makes his landscapes fun and not so serious. Even for serious topics. Fukuhara returned to the Japanese detention camp, where he was held during World War II, to paint landscapes and used the same light approach. Surprisingly, he was not bitter about his time in the detention camp. He rationalized that it was war and many men did not return. To make his images of the detention center up beat he focused on symbols. Fukuhara veered from the realistic and instead made abstract landscapes in bright color schemes. He preferred to work en plein air. The paintings have a quick line work to them that show that he is working on site. I think Henry Fukuhara is an inspiration not just as a watercolor landscape artist, but as a person.