Hawaiʻi Modernism: The Metcalf Chateau
Tusha Buntin
Curator & Gallery Owner
TUSHA Fine Art Gallery × Tokonoma Arts Gallery
It Began with a House.
In 1954, seven Asian American artists gathered in an old house on Metcalf Street in Honolulu that had been slated for demolition. For roughly six months, the house became a shared studio and exhibition space—a place to make work, exchange ideas, and show what they were creating.
An exhibition held there drew the attention of Robert P. Griffing Jr., then director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts—now the Honolulu Museum of Art—and led to a group exhibition at the museum. The seven artists became known as the Metcalf Chateau: Satoru Abe, Bumpei Akaji, Edmund Chung, Tetsuo “Bob” Ochikubo, Jerry T. Okimoto, James K.K. Park, and Tadashi Sato.
Today, TBFAS continues this story by presenting works by five of the original seven: Satoru Abe, Bumpei Akaji, Tadashi Sato, Tetsuo “Bob” Ochikubo, and Jerry T. Okimoto.
Tadashi Sato
An abstract painter, muralist, and mosaic artist whose work frequently reflects the light and water of Hawaiʻi.
Satoru Abe
A Honolulu-born painter and sculptor whose organic abstractions often draw on trees, rocks, and natural forms.
Bumpei Akaji
A Kauaʻi-born painter and sculptor whose practice moved from painting toward welded metal sculpture, combining modernist form with a strong sense of material.
Tetsuo Ochikubo
A painter and printmaker whose work balances abstract form and open space, shaped by both American modernism and Japanese aesthetics.
Jerry T. Okimoto
A painter and sculptor known for geometric abstraction and explorations of color, form, and three-dimensional space.
The Circle Expanded.
The Metcalf Chateau story did not end with the original seven. University of Hawaiʻi sources describe a wider circle that later included Isami Doi, Keichi Kimura, Sueko Matsueda Kimura, Harue McVay, Toshiko Takaezu, and Harry Tsuchidana.
This broader circle extended the exchange across painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, and other media—expanding the story from one house and one exhibition into a wider network of Hawaiʻi artists.
TBFAS.com currently features two artists from this wider Metcalf Chateau circle: Toshiko Takaezu and Harry Tsuchidana.
Toshiko Takaezu
A Hawaiʻi-born Japanese American ceramic artist whose sculptural vessels and organic forms helped redefine modern American ceramics.
Harry Tsuchidana
A Hawaiʻi-born Japanese American abstract artist known for painting, printmaking, photography, and a long-running exploration of geometric and linear form.
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