Jim Hathaway

Jim Hathaway is an American ink painter who has made Tokyo his home since 1989. He paints the places and people around him using ancient materials that remain fresh and alive, creating works that brim with personality and warmth.
Hathaway grew up surrounded by art as the son of an art teacher. He began university as an engineering major but found his calling after noticing how light played across a colored wall in a coffee house. He left school to study at the Art Students League of New York under his mentor Marshall Glazier, where he learned to draw and truly see. A revelation came at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he discovered Chinese painting, experiencing a new way of seeing that was fresh and clean.
After becoming discouraged with the art business in New York, Hathaway took a vacation to Japan in 1989 and never returned. He studied traditional ink painting with artist Yukie Otake, who challenged him to draw a thousand maple leaves before moving forward. Rather than becoming a traditional painter of bamboo and birds, Hathaway chose to use these ancient materials with contemporary subjects.
Working with Sumi ink on soft Japanese paper, Hathaway creates paintings of alleys, power lines, trees, and flowers that offer a unique view of city life. He has held solo exhibitions annually for 35 years in Tokyo and enjoyed museum shows including a mid-career retrospective at a contemporary art museum in Gunma. Hathaway is represented by Park West Gallery.