Toshiko Uchima

'''Toshiko Uchima''' (Japanese 内間俊子) (26 October 1918 – 18 December 2000) was a Japanese-American artist. She worked in a variety of media, including collage, box assemblage, oil paintings, woodblock prints and drawings.

==Early life and career== Uchima was born Toshiko Aohara on 26 October 1918 in Japanese-occupied northeast China and raised in the expatriate Japanese community in Dalian (known to the Japanese as "Dairen"), where she studied drawing and painting at the Dairen Art Studio.<ref name="Wechsler">Wechsler, Jeffrey ed. Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions: Asian American Artists and Abstraction 1945-1970. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997). p. 178.</ref> After her family returned to Japan in the late 1930’s, she attended Kobe College and studied with the painter Ryōhei Koiso.<ref name="Wechsler" /> In the early 1950’s, Uchima, living in Tokyo, exhibited oil paintings at the Yomiuri Independent Show<ref name="Watanuki">Watanuki Ltd./Toki-no-Wasuremono. Uchima Ansei and Uchima Toshiko. Exhibition Catalog, 2018, p. 19.</ref> and was one of the first women to join the Democratic Artists Association (Demokrāto),<ref name="Wechsler" /> a group of artists in different media founded by noted Japanese avant-garde artist Ei Q. As a member of Demokrāto, she made the acquaintance of, among others, art critic Sadajirō Kubo and poet Shūzō Takiguchi,<ref name="Tokino">{{Cite web |title=Toshiko Uchima |url=http://www.tokinowasuremono.com/e/artist-d00-hoka/088T_UCHIMA.html |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Toki-no-Wasuremono}}</ref> whose poems, together with a portfolio of original prints, including Uchima’s, appeared in a 1954 limited edition work titled "Sphinx."

In 1955, she married Ansei Uchima, an artist best known as a woodblock printmaker. That year she co-founded, with Chizuko Yoshida, Reika Iwami and others, the Joryū Hanga Kyōkai (Japanese Women’s Print Association). She exhibited in its annual shows from 1956 to 1965.<ref name="Watanuki" /> She also exhibited in the Grenchen International Print Biennale in 1958.<ref name="Watanuki" /> In 1959, she left Japan with her husband and one-year-old son. The family settled in New York City in 1960.<ref name="Wechsler" /> She participated in "Japan’s Modern Prints - Sosaku Hanga," the first comprehensive exhibition of sōsaku hanga from the early twentieth century to the present, in 1960 at the Art Institute of Chicago,<ref>Art Institute of Chicago. Japan’s Modern Prints - Sosaku Hanga. Exhibition Catalogue, 1960.</ref> and continued to produce prints for several years.

In the mid-1960’s, she turned to collage as a primary medium<ref name="Wechsler" /> and, later, also produced box assemblages, using "objects as disparate as antique dolls, postage stamps, seashells, feathers and miniature angelic figures, each with a unique memory and history arranged into a ‘poetic theater’ which tells the story of times gone by and the impermanence of life."<ref>Wiliamsburg Art & Historical Center. Friends and Mentors. Exhibition Catalogue, 2001.</ref> She regularly exhibited her collage and assemblage work in solo and group shows in New York and Japan.

In 1982, her husband suffered a stroke that ended his career. Uchima spent much of her time over the next 18 years caring for him. She continued to produce work in her limited time and exhibited her work throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. She died on 18 December 2000.<ref name="Tokino" />

==Selected Collections==

United States

* Whitney Museum of American Art<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toshiko Uchima |url=https://whitney.org/artists/21296/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Whitney Museum}}</ref> * Brooklyn Museum<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/artists/6051/objects|title=Uchima Toshiko|website=Brooklyn Museum|access-date=9 July 2023|archive-date=9 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709153410/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/artists/6051/objects|url-status=live}}</ref> * RISD Museum<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection?search_api_fulltext=uchima|website=www.risdmuseum.org|title=Collection}}</ref> * Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chazen.wisc.edu/collection/?artists%5B%5D=5172 |website=www.chazen.wisc.edu |title=The Permanent Collection }}</ref> * Smith College Museum of Art<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museums.fivecolleges.edu/info.php/s=Toshiko+Uchima&type=all&museum=sc&+=objects|title=Toshiko Uchima|website=www.museums.fivecolleges.edu}}</ref> * Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University<ref>{{Cite web |title=Floating World, Otori Ukiyoa |url=https://zimmerli.emuseum.com/objects/6152/floating-world-otori-ukiyoa |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University}}</ref> * Grinnell College Museum of Art<ref>{{cite web |title=Serenade of the Fairies |url=https://digital.grinnell.edu/islandora/object/faulconer-art:1119 |website=Grinnell College |access-date=3 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709153421/https://digital.grinnell.edu/islandora/object/faulconer-art:1119 |archive-date=9 Jul 2023 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref> * Princeton University Marquand Library (''Sphinx'')<ref>{{Cite web |title=Princeton University Department of Art of Archaeology Newsletter |url=https://artandarchaeology.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1651/files/2012newsletter.pdf |website=Princeton University |access-date=1 November 2023 |archive-date=5 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805130835/https://artandarchaeology.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1651/files/2012newsletter.pdf |url-status=live|date=Fall 2012|page=25 }}</ref> * Cincinnati Art Museum<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/collection.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/people/6190/toshiko-uchima |website=www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org}}</ref>

Japan

* Nerima Art Museum, Tokyo<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, Japan<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art, Utsunomiya, Japan<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, Japan<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Museum of Art, Kochi, Japan<ref name="Watanuki" />

Other

* Museo de Zaragoza, Spain<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museodezaragoza.es/somos-el-sol-mujeres-artistas-en-las-colecciones-de-asia-oriental/|title=Somos el sol. Mujeres artistas en las colecciones de Asia Oriental|language=es|trans-title=We are the sun. Women artists in East Asian collections|website=Zaragoza Museum|access-date=6 November 2023|archive-date=6 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106170632/http://www.museodezaragoza.es/somos-el-sol-mujeres-artistas-en-las-colecciones-de-asia-oriental/|url-status=unfit}}</ref>

==Selected exhibitions==

=== Solo exhibitions === * Striped House Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1994<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Cordy Gallery, New York, 1975<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, 1976<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Suzuki Gallery, New York, 1976, 1982, 1990<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Ginza Sanbangai Gallery, Tokyo, 1981<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Michigan State University,1963<ref name="Watanuki" />

=== Selected group exhibitions === * Grenchen International Print Triennale, 1958<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Art Institute of Chicago, "Modern Japanese Prints – Sōsaku Hanga," 1960<ref name="Tokino" /> * Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, "American Traditions/Modern Expressions: Asian American Artists and Abstraction 1945-1970," 1997 (traveling)<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Portland Art Museum, "Joryū Hanga Kyōkai, 1956-1965, Japan’s Women Printmakers," 2020-21<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://portlandartmuseum.org/event/joryu-hanga-kyokai-1956-1965/|title= Joryū Hanga Kyōkai, 1956–1965|website=Portland Art Museum|access-date=9 July 2023|archive-date=9 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709153411/https://portlandartmuseum.org/exhibitions/joryu-hanga-kyokai/|url-status=live}}</ref> * RISD Museum, "Defying Boundaries: Women in Japanese Art," 2024<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/defying-boundaries|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601112015/https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/defying-boundaries|archive-date=2024-06-01|title=Defying Boundaries: Women in Japanese Art|website=Rhode Island School of Design Museum|access-date=2024-11-29}}</ref> * Scholten Japanese Art, "Creative Connections: Sosaku-Hanga Artists & New York," 2024-25<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scholten-japanese-art.com/scholten-japanese-art.com/current.php|title="Creative Connections: Sosaku-Hanga Artists & New York," 2024-25|website=www.scholten-japanese-art.com}} {{dead link|date=March 2025}}</ref> * Pratt Graphic Art Center, Japanese Women’s Print Show, 1965<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Society of American Graphic Artists, 47th Annual Exhibition of The Society of American Graphic Artists, New York, 1966<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sagaprints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1966-47th-Annual-Exhibition.pdf|title=47th Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Graphic Artists|website=Society of American Graphic Artists|access-date=6 November 2023|archive-date=6 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106171822/https://sagaprints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1966-47th-Annual-Exhibition.pdf|url-status=live|page=19}}</ref> * Centre Pompidou, Paris, "Japon des avant-gardes 1910-1970," 1986 (Sphinx)<ref>Centre Georges Pompidou. Japon des avant-gardes: 1910-1970. Paris: Ėditions du Centre Pompidou, 1986. p. 518.</ref> * Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, "Demokrato 1957: Liberation Art in Postwar Japan," 1999<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art, "Q Ei and the Avant-Garde Artists," 2014,<ref name="Watanuki" /> "Japanese Women Artists of Avant-Garde Movements 1950-1975," 2005<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Nerima Art Museum Collection Exhibition, Tokyo 2016<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, "Women’s March," 2018<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Striped House Museum of Art, Tokyo, with Ansei Uchima, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2012<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Toki-no-Wasuremono Gallery, Tokyo, with Ansei Uchima, 2018<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Hunterdon Art Center, New Jersey, "Reflections, Images," three-person exhibition with Ansei Uchima and Isamu Noguchi, 1980<ref name="Watanuki" /> * Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, New York, "Friends and Mentors" (with Jack Lenor Larsen, Isamu Noguchi, Jerry Rudquist, Toshiko Takaezu, Ansei Uchima and Esteban Vicente), 2001<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wahcenter.net/exhibits/2001/mentors/index.html|title=Friends & Mentors|website=Williamsburg Art & Historical Center|access-date=9 July 2023|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604141411/https://www.wahcenter.net/exhibits/2001/mentors/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> * Yomiuri Independent Exhibitions, Tokyo, 1952, 1953<ref name="Watanuki" />

==Selected publications== * Hanga Geijutsu, "Pioneers of Women Printmakers". No. 208, Summer 2025 * Kuwahara, Noriko. ''Postwar Printmaking Exchanges between Japan and the United States: 1945-1965''. (Tokyo: Serika Shobo, 2024) * Wechsler, Jeffrey ed. ''Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions: Asian American Artists and Abstraction 1945-1970''. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997)

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchima, Toshiko}} Category:1918 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Artists from Dalian Category:Japanese emigrants to the United States Category:Japanese collage artists Category:American collage artists Category:American women collage artists Category:20th-century American women painters Category:20th-century American painters Category:20th-century Japanese women painters Category:20th-century Japanese painters Category:American artists of Japanese descent