Contents
Taro Okamoto
Creating the Tower of the Sun and the mural Myth of Tomorrow.
Wounded Arm · Myth of Tomorrow
- Born
- 26 February 1911
- Birthplace
- Kawasaki, Japan
- Died
- 7 January 1996
More people
Taro Okamoto
Tarō Okamoto was a Japanese artist whose bold public works combined avant-garde experimentation with an interest in older cultural traditions.
Early life
Creative parents
His father Ippei was a cartoonist and his mother Kanoko a writer.
Early painting
Studied painting before travelling to Europe in 1929.
Career
- 1930s
Paris
Studied philosophy and ethnography while joining avant-garde art circles.
- 1940
Return to Japan
Came back as war spread across Europe.
- 1946
Postwar rebuilding
Returned from military service after his earlier works had been destroyed.
- 1970
Expo Osaka
Created the Tower of the Sun for the world exposition.
Selected work
Wounded Arm
A painting associated with his move toward surrealism.
Myth of Tomorrow
A monumental mural confronting the atomic age.
Tower of the Sun
A sculptural landmark built for Expo 70.
Beyond work
War experience
Served in China and spent time in a prisoner-of-war camp before returning home.
Cultural study
Brought his interest in ethnography to writing about Japanese traditions and prehistoric Jōmon art.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Okamoto Memorial Museum biography ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
