"I believe that the art of painting, and the painting itself, should convey a feeling of serene satisfaction and inner harmony."
- Paul Horiuchi

It is said that Japanese artists invented collage over 800 years ago; some say Horiuchi perfected it. His work has been described as romantic, serene, and sensitive. Some say his collages have earned him the title Master of Collage.

Horiuchi was born in Japan and at an early age he studied calligraphy, Sumi painting, and watercolor. He came to the United States in 1922, moving to Seattle in 1946. He began serious focus on collages in the 1950s.

Horiuchi initially painted in oils but gradually stepped to collage. He created his "palette" by dying sheets of handmade paper with casein and pigment. From these he tore and assembled his imagery. The raw torn edges formed an active surface.

Horiuchi enjoyed a close, expansive friendship with artist Mark Tobey. They shared an interest in Asian antiques and Zen philosophy. His first major one-artist exhibit was held in Seattle in 1957 and was followed by a one-artist exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum in 1958.
In 1969, Seattle Art Museum curated a retrospective exhibition displayed at the musuem as well as Museum of Art (University of Oregon).

Horiuchi has been the recipient of many honors and awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wing Luke Asian Museum in 1955. His works are in the collections of major museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Fogg Art Museum (Harvard University) and Cambridge University, England.


Text from the Museum of Northwest Art:
Born Chikamasa Horiuchi on April 12, 1906 in Japan, he grew up on the shores of Lake Kawaguchi, facing Mount Fuji. He was the second son of a cabinetmaker and Kabuki singer, and his wife Yasu. When Horiuchi was just 40 days old, his father left for the United States; his mother followed him four years later. Horiuchi remained in Japan with his grandfather, studying the sumi technique of Japanese ink-painting with Iketani, “an artist of local reputation.”

Horiuchi came to the United States in 1922 and worked with his father building railroads in the west. In December 1934, he took a leave of absence to go to Seattle to study with the artists Kenjiro Nomura and Kamekichi Tokita. There he met and married Bernadette Suda, converting to Catholicism for her, and taking the name Paul. They moved back to Wyoming and made a good living there for the next eight years, but in 1942 all Japanese were fired from the railroad industry, and he, his wife, and their small son were removed from their housing.

Taking only what necessary items they could pack into their car, Horiuchi was forced to burn what they could not carry, including his art. He appealed to the government to place them in a relocation camp, but they were denied. On this, he said, “We envied the people in the camp. They could count on a place to sleep and food to eat.” The next years were difficult, as they moved from place to place living off the kindness of friends, and staying wherever they could (including, once, a chicken coop shared with his brother’s family).

They eventually moved back to Seattle, where Paul began selling his work at the encouragement of a friend. He sold his first piece for $100, and realized he could make more money selling one piece of art than they were making in an entire month. While initially an oil and watercolor painter, Horiuchi began making collages in the 1950s from torn sheets of handmade rice and mulberry paper with various pigments. It is clear to see the influence of his traditional Japanese training in the abstract designs he produces.

He was also influenced by the work of Picasso (after whom he took his name Paul) as well as his contemporaries, including his longtime friend Mark Tobey, whose work is also part of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art collection. The two met in 1946 through the Zen Master, Takazaki, and shared an interest in Asian art and philosophy. Paul Horiuchi is one of the most celebrated artists of the Pacific Northwest. His work is represented in the collections of several major museums, including the Museum of Northwest Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum (Harvard University) and Cambridge University, England.

Retrospective exhibitions of his work were held at the Tacoma Art Museum in 1967, both the University of Oregon Museum of Art and the Seattle Art Museum in 1969 and his important Henry Art Gallery in 1973. He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors including designation as a Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class, by the Emperor of Japan in 1976, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle in 1995. - text from the Northwest Museum of Art