Passing Rain

This original watercolor, titled Passing Rain (top), was among more than 150 paintings that Obata produced during a lengthy stay in the High Sierras in 1927. As visitors to Yosemite know, afternoon showers are frequent occurrences during the summer months. Using dilute and saturated ink, Obata deftly captures the fleeting passage of the showers: dark clouds that suddenly appear, drop their moisture, and move away. Washes of color make the foreground appear damp, as if just drenched, and a jewel-like palette signals the nourishing power of rain. Obata later described this transitory pleasure, “Upon the clear, mirror-like sky appear lumps of rain-clouds which sail speedily over the mountains watering all things beneath as they go by and refreshing all.”