Hideo Noda papers, circa 1910s-1998

Collection Information

Size: 1.3 Linear feet

Summary: The Hideo Noda papers, circa 1910s-1998, measure 1.3 linear feet and document the life and work of muralist and painter Hideo Noda (1908-1939). The collection includes correspondence and illustrated letters between Noda, his wife Ruth, and others, scattered receipts and financial material, biographical and exhibition-related printed materials in Japanese and English, six photograph albums of family, travel, and artwork photographs, copies of original sketches and drawings by Noda and considered to be only remaining versions, Hideo Noda estate papers, and video and film recordings.

Biographical/Historical Note

Hideo Noda (1908-1939), also known as Hideo Benjamin Noda and Benjamin Hideo Noda, was a Japanese American painter and muralist active in New York, New York; Tokyo, Japan; and San Francisco, California. Noda, born in Santa Clara, California, attended the California School of Fine Arts, and graduated in 1931. He then traveled to New York, where he was a member of the Mural Painters Guild and Woodstock Artists Association, studied with Arnold Blanch and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and worked as an assistant to Diego Rivera. Around 1932 he married Ruth Kates, and between 1935 and 1939 he traveled with Ruth, and then alone, through Europe and Japan, where he became a member of the Shinseisakuha Art Society. In January 1939, Hideo Noda died of brain cancer and was buried in Kumamoto, Japan, where his parents lived prior to emigrating to America.

Provenance

The collection was donated in 2023 by Kathleen and Laurel Hulley, children of Hideo Noda's wife Ruth Noda.

Language Note

English , Japanese .