Chihiro’s Oil Paintings

At the age of 14, Chihiro became an apprentice of Saburosuke Okada and painted in oil. However, most of her pre-war works were destroyed by fire in an air raid. It is believed that she created a considerable number of oil paintings even after the war until the mid-1950s, but only 13 works can be confirmed to date. None of her oil paintings after 1963 remain. Chihiro wanted to depict the daily life of ordinary people, and decided she would make a living as an artist for publications. For her, soft and light expressions achieved with watercolor paints were a suitable technique.