Tetsuo Ochikubo (Japanese/American, 1923-1975), From the Cosmos Series

Oil on canvas, circa 1950s, not signed or labeled, presented in a giltwood frame.

Stretcher size 14 x 26 in.; Frame dimensions 14 3/4 x 26 3/4 in.

Tetsuo "Bob" Ochikubo was a Japanese-American painter, sculptor, and printmaker who was born in Waipahu, Hawaii. Ochikubo fought as a soldier in World War II. After being discharged from the Army, he studied painting and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He eventually returned to Hawaii which is where he lived, studied at The Art Students League, and held his studio practice.

Ochikubo completed fellowships at the Whitney and Guggenheim Museums between 1957 and 1959, which allowed him to maintain a studio practice in New York. His paintings from this period, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, were critically acclaimed. He exhibited at Krasner Galleries in Manhattan, and numerous other American and international locations during this time.

He worked at Tamarind Institute in the 1960s and is best known for his entirely abstract paintings and lithographs. He was a member of the “Metcalf Chateau”, a group of seven Asian-American artists with ties to Honolulu. Ochikubo died in Kawaihae, Hawaii in 1975.


Small patch at lower center with associated retouching, age cracking, minor abrasions to the frame.