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“These paintings come from nothingness. It’s a spontaneous occurrence. I destroy many of my paintings, but sometimes the result of space, balance, dark, and light successfully emerge in the spirit of the moment. I delve for truth and strength from within. It has to be a pure expression.” 

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About Koho Yamamoto

Bio

At the age 100, the masterful New York-based artist KOHO YAMAMOTO continues to produce her dynamic sumi-e brush paintings, while teaching and inspiring a new generation of sumi-e brush painters. Her work, described as “fantastic dark landscapes” and “exceptionally beautiful” by Art News and Isamu Noguchi respectively, was profiled in a feature by Th e New York Times and is available for museum and gallery presentation or acquisition. Her style of painting ranges from expressionistic landscapes to bold, energetic black & white abstractions displaying the artistry of an active and accomplished painter trained by Chiura Obata, whose own landscapes were recently displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Yamamoto founded the Koho School of Sumi-e in Soho, New York, where she instructed students in traditional Japanese brush painting technique for almost 40 years until 2010. With the school’s closure, Yamamoto was featured in the Times’ articles, “An Endangered Japanese Art Form Loses Its Outpost in Soho” and “Reflections on a Stilled Paintbrush”. In 2013, Nippon Television Network (NTV) aired a documentary on her life and art. 

Yamamoto has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions over her long career, with her most recent solo exhibition showing at The Galleries at the Interchurch Center in 2012. She also taught at Columbia University, New York University, Parsons School of Design, the Japanese American Society, the Nippon Museum and other institutions. 

Born in San Francisco in 1922 as Masako Yamamoto, she along with her family was forced to move to the Topaz War Relocation Center with the outbreak of World War II. At the Utah internment camp, she studied with the renowned artist, Chiura Obata, who was also confined there. In recognition of her skill and artistry, Professor Obata conferred upon her the name ‘Koho’, which is a Japanese tradition of denoting artistic lineage from masters to their outstanding pupils. Obata’s name translates to ‘A Thousand Harbors’ and Koho translates as ‘Red Harbor’. At the close of the war, Yamamoto moved to New York to study painting at the Art Students League and was awarded the Allen Tucker Scholarship. Many of her pieces reflect the abstract expressionist movement afoot at that time. 

Timeline & cv

April 14, 1922                               

 

 

 

Born Masako Yamamoto in Alviso, California, the fourth of five children to Sayo Ito and Wataro Yamamoto, who were first-generation Japanese immigrants (“Issei”).  Mother Sayo had been a school teacher in Japan; father Wataro was a poet and calligrapher.

1924

                                

 

 

Left California for Fukuoka, Japan, along with three older siblings and mother, who was pregnant and had just been diagnosed with cancer; Sayo and children were cared for by extended family while Wataro stayed behind in California as a field worker.

1931                                   

Returned to San Francisco. 

Until 1931

 

Masako and her siblings were raised by their aunt and uncle after Sayo died in 1926; Wataro retrieved the four oldest children (the youngest was officially adopted by aunt and uncle).

1931–42

Schooled in the San Jose, CA, area.

1942–43

 

 

 

Family incarcerated first in Tanforan detention facility, San Bruno, CA, then at Topaz Relocation Center in Millard Co., UT, where Masako studied sumi-e with fellow internee and UC-Berkeley Art Professor Chiura Obata (1885–1975). He was so impressed with her talent that he conferred upon her the artistic name of “Koho” (“red harbor”), derived from his own name (“a thousand harbors”).  Koho was also a member of the Topaz Poppy Club, a group practicing jiyuritsu (free-form haiku) and tanka poetry.

September 1943

                                 

Family relocated from Topaz to Tule Lake Segregation Center.

September 1945 

Migrated to New York City.

1946–53

 

Studied at the Art Students League, where she won the Allen Tucker Scholarship. Studied oils with Richard Bove.

1947–48

                                 

Was a member of the artists’ group at Taro Yashima’s studio. 

January 1950

 

Had tanka published in The New York Nichibei (Japanese language newspaper).

1951

 

Married Hideo Kobashigawa, an artist (also imprisoned at Tule Lake). They met around 1947 or 1948 at Taro Yashima’s studio. Went by the name of Margie Kobashigawa while married.

1955

 

Joined Gallery 84, one of the original 10th Street cooperative art galleries.

June 1958

 

Moved to 24 Cornelia St, NYC; possibly separated from Hideo.

1964

Divorced, in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Until 1973

 

Held various jobs to make ends meet while continuing her artistic study.

By 1973

 

Began to offer demonstrations and workshops in school settings and street fairs, and to take on private students, including teaching classes at her apartment.

December 1973

Solo exhibition, Japan Cultural Center.

1974

 

 

Founded Koho School of Sumi-e at 64 MacDougal Street (at Houston Ave). Throughout the life of the Koho School of Sumi-e (until May of 2010) Yamamoto offered annual group shows of her students’ work. Exhibitions at Kenshaw Gallery, Woodstock, NY; Valley Stream Central High School, Valley Stream, NY; and The Wheatley School, Old Westbury, NY.

Spring 1975

Exhibit at Great Neck Library; shared space with Motoi Oi, founder of The Sumi-e Society of America, and others.

1975

 

 

Taught  ‘Sumi-e, Meditation Through Brush Painting’ classes at Nippon Museum; and watercolor classes at The Educational Alliance Art School, New York.

November 27–December 3, 1975

Featured in The Village Voice – a centerfold article with photo.

January 1976

 

Japanese brush painting exhibition by Koho School and Educational Alliance at The New Gallery, 197 East Broadway, New York. 

January 4-31, 1977

 

 

Exhibition SUMI-E, Japanese Brush Painting presented by Koho School at The New Gallery, Educational Alliance Art School.

Spring 1979

 

 

 

Prominently featured in a group exhibition sponsored by Japan Society, Windows on the East: A Survey of Contemporary Japanese Art, 1 World Trade Center, New York.

December 2-22, 1979

 

Exhibition of Koho Sensei and her students at Bizen Gallery, 171 Spring Street, New York.

1980

 

 

 

 

Commissioned by G.P. Putnam’s/Perigee Books to design covers for seven novels by Yukio Mishima. Three paintings exhibited in a group traveling exhibition in Peking, Shanghai, and Canton, China, sponsored by Iron Flower Chan Art School, Honolulu, HI.

1985

 

Correspondence with Isamu Noguchi; meets him at his Long Island City studio and museum on August 14, 1985.

1986

 

 

Solo exhibition at Kukwao Gallery, Tenafly, NJ. Exhibition of works by Koho and students at Brooklyn Botanic Garden for Sakura Matsuri.

1987

 

Solo exhibition, KOHO Selected Works 1977-1987, New York Open Center.

September 17–November 5, 1989

 

Group exhibition, From Bleakness, Gallery of Municipal Building, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.

1997

 

Commissioned by Rogers Seidman to provide calligraphy and artwork for IBM at the Nagano 1998 Olympics.

January 3–31, 1993

 

Solo exhibition, Koho Yamamoto Abstract Sumi-E, Gallery EX., Tokyo.

November–December 2003

 

Group exhibition of Koho School at Westbeth Artists Housing, 55 Bethune Street, New York.

Dec 27, 2005

 

Featured in “A Philosophy Runs Through Each Brush Stroke,” Lily Koppel, The New York Times.

May 2010

 

 

Closes Koho School of Sumi-E on MacDougal Street.  Featured in “Reflections on a Stilled Paintbrush,” Ann Farmer, The New York Times.

2012

 

 

Solo exhibition, From Topaz to Soho: The Spirited Art of Koho Yamamoto, The Galleries at The Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive, New York.

June 2012

 

 

Group exhibition, Koho Yamamoto: A Sensei and Her Students, Windows on Amsterdam, CCNY Community Art Gallery, New York. 

October–November 2013

 

Solo exhibition, Koho Yamamoto: Works of a Master, City College of New York.   

2013

 

Honored at “Japanese American Internment Project,” The Interchurch Center, New York.

August 28, 2013

 

Yamamoto’s life and art is featured on ‘Waratte Koraete,’ Nippon Television.

February 2014

 

 

Honored as part of the project If they came for me today…East Coast Stories, Japanese American Association of New York.

December 2014

 

Group exhibition, Koho School of Sumi-e and Students, New York Public Library, Jefferson Market Branch, New York.

2016

 

Invited by the National Museum of American History to gift artwork to the museum.

September 2017

 

Group exhibition, The Handshake, Cubico, 433 Broadway, New York.

November 2018

Modeled for the clothing brand Frank Debourge.

January 2021 

 

Two paintings from 1945 acquired by Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University.

April 2022

 

‘Koho Yamamoto with Amanda Millet-Sorsa’, an interview in The Brooklyn Rail.

April 2023

 

Solo exhibition, Koho Yamamoto 101 Springs, The Katya Leonovich Art Gallery, New York City.

April 14, 1922                               

 

 

 

Born Masako Yamamoto in Alviso, California, the fourth of five children to Sayo Ito and Wataro Yamamoto, who were first-generation Japanese immigrants (“Issei”).  Mother Sayo had been a school teacher in Japan; father Wataro was a poet and calligrapher.

1924

                                

 

 

Left California for Fukuoka, Japan, along with three older siblings and mother, who was pregnant and had just been diagnosed with cancer; Sayo and children were cared for by extended family while Wataro stayed behind in California as a field worker.

1931                                   

Returned to San Francisco. 

Until 1931

 

Masako and her siblings were raised by their aunt and uncle after Sayo died in 1926; Wataro retrieved the four oldest children (the youngest was officially adopted by aunt and uncle).

1931–42

Schooled in the San Jose, CA, area.

1942–43

 

 

 

Family incarcerated first in Tanforan detention facility, San Bruno, CA, then at Topaz Relocation Center in Millard Co., UT, where Masako studied sumi-e with fellow internee and UC-Berkeley Art Professor Chiura Obata (1885–1975). He was so impressed with her talent that he conferred upon her the artistic name of “Koho” (“red harbor”), derived from his own name (“a thousand harbors”).  Koho was also a member of the Topaz Poppy Club, a group practicing jiyuritsu (free-form haiku) and tanka poetry.

September 1943

                                 

Family relocated from Topaz to Tule Lake Segregation Center.

September 1945 

Migrated to New York City.

1946–53

 

Studied at the Art Students League, where she won the Allen Tucker Scholarship. Studied oils with Richard Bove.

1947–48

                                 

Was a member of the artists’ group at Taro Yashima’s studio. 

January 1950

 

Had tanka published in The New York Nichibei (Japanese language newspaper).

1951

 

Married Hideo Kobashigawa, an artist (also imprisoned at Tule Lake). They met around 1947 or 1948 at Taro Yashima’s studio. Went by the name of Margie Kobashigawa while married.

1955

 

Joined Gallery 84, one of the original 10th Street cooperative art galleries.

June 1958

 

Moved to 24 Cornelia St, NYC; possibly separated from Hideo.

1964

Divorced, in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Until 1973

 

Held various jobs to make ends meet while continuing her artistic study.

By 1973

 

Began to offer demonstrations and workshops in school settings and street fairs, and to take on private students, including teaching classes at her apartment.

December 1973

Solo exhibition, Japan Cultural Center.

1974

 

 

Founded Koho School of Sumi-e at 64 MacDougal Street (at Houston Ave). Throughout the life of the Koho School of Sumi-e (until May of 2010) Yamamoto offered annual group shows of her students’ work. Exhibitions at Kenshaw Gallery, Woodstock, NY; Valley Stream Central High School, Valley Stream, NY; and The Wheatley School, Old Westbury, NY.

Spring 1975

Exhibit at Great Neck Library; shared space with Motoi Oi, founder of The Sumi-e Society of America, and others.

1975

 

 

Taught  ‘Sumi-e, Meditation Through Brush Painting’ classes at Nippon Museum; and watercolor classes at The Educational Alliance Art School, New York.

November 27–December 3, 1975

Featured in The Village Voice – a centerfold article with photo.

January 1976

 

Japanese brush painting exhibition by Koho School and Educational Alliance at The New Gallery, 197 East Broadway, New York. 

January 4-31, 1977

 

 

Exhibition SUMI-E, Japanese Brush Painting presented by Koho School at The New Gallery, Educational Alliance Art School.

Spring 1979

 

Prominently featured in a group exhibition sponsored by Japan Society, Windows on the East: A Survey of Contemporary Japanese Art, 1 World Trade Center, New York.

December 2-22, 1979

 

Exhibition of Koho Sensei and her students at Bizen Gallery, 171 Spring Street, New York.

1980

 

Commissioned by G.P. Putnam’s/Perigee Books to design covers for seven novels by Yukio Mishima. Three paintings exhibited in a group traveling exhibition in Peking, Shanghai, and Canton, China, sponsored by Iron Flower Chan Art School, Honolulu, HI.

1985

 

Correspondence with Isamu Noguchi; meets him at his Long Island City studio and museum on August 14, 1985.

1986

 

 

Solo exhibition at Kukwao Gallery, Tenafly, NJ. Exhibition of works by Koho and students at Brooklyn Botanic Garden for Sakura Matsuri.

1987

 

Solo exhibition, KOHO Selected Works 1977-1987, New York Open Center.

September 17–November 5, 1989

 

Group exhibition, From Bleakness, Gallery of Municipal Building, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.

1997

 

Commissioned by Rogers Seidman to provide calligraphy and artwork for IBM at the Nagano 1998 Olympics.

January 3–31, 1993

 

Solo exhibition, Koho Yamamoto Abstract Sumi-E, Gallery EX., Tokyo.

November–December 2003

 

Group exhibition of Koho School at Westbeth Artists Housing, 55 Bethune Street, New York.

Dec 27, 2005

 

Featured in “A Philosophy Runs Through Each Brush Stroke,” Lily Koppel, The New York Times.

May 2010

 

 

Closes Koho School of Sumi-E on MacDougal Street.  Featured in “Reflections on a Stilled Paintbrush,” Ann Farmer, The New York Times.

2012

 

 

Solo exhibition, From Topaz to Soho: The Spirited Art of Koho Yamamoto, The Galleries at The Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive, New York.

October–November 2013

 

Solo exhibition, Koho Yamamoto: Works of a Master, City College of New York.   

2013

 

Honored at “Japanese American Internment Project,” The Interchurch Center, New York.

February 2014

 

 

Honored as part of the project If they came for me today…East Coast Stories, Japanese American Association of New York.

December 2014

 

Group exhibition, Koho School of Sumi-e and Students, New York Public Library, Jefferson Market Branch, New York.

2016

 

Invited by the National Museum of American History to gift artwork to the museum.

September 2017

 

Group exhibition, The Handshake, Cubico, 433 Broadway, New York.

November 2018

Modeled for the clothing brand Frank Debourge.

March 10, 2021 – May 23, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

Koho Yamamoto: Under a Dark Moon, Noguchi Museum, New York; The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum presents Koho Yamamoto: Under a Dark Moon, a one-gallery installation of ten untitled works on paper by Masako “Koho” Yamamoto (b. 1922). Master painter and founder of an eponymous school in New York City where she educated generations of students in sumi-e (“black ink painting”) from 1974 to 2010, Yamamoto continues to work and teach privately in her 100th year. Because of her deep association with sumi-e and veneration as a teacher, her art has been almost totally unrecognized outside of that context. These dark abstract paintings, suggesting sublime interior landscapes, which she describes as coming “from nothingness”—from an empty mind—have not been exhibited before.

January 2021 

 

Two paintings from 1945 acquired by Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University.

April 2022

 

‘Koho Yamamoto with Amanda Millet-Sorsa’, an interview in The Brooklyn Rail.

April 2023

 

Solo exhibition, Koho Yamamoto 101 Springs, The Katya Leonovich Art Gallery, New York City.