Sato died Saturday at age 82, but his legacy lives on in museums, private collections and public art displays from Honolulu to New York, including the Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art.

Born Feb. 6, 1923, Sato served in the Army in the Pacific during World War II and went on to attend Cannon School of Business in Honolulu before pursuing his artistic talents at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and then the Brooklyn School of Art in New York. He returned to Honolulu to teach classes at McKinley Adult School, but went back to New York in hopes of making a name for himself in the art world.

Sato's break came while he was working as a museum security guard. A friend who was a movie extra introduced him to actors Charles Laughton and Burgess Meredith, who were both art collectors.

During a 1999 interview, Sato said Laughton, Meredith and some other actors came to his apartment at the urging of his friend. He remembered Laughton staring at one painting with a seemingly critical eye and after a long silence announced in his cultured accent: "My friend, this is pure poetry."

Before the party was over, the actors bought six or seven works, and Sato promptly called his boss at the museum to quit.

Sato, who painted with signature delicate, crosshatched brushstrokes, went on to do three one-man shows at the Willard Gallery in New York. But by 1960, Sato decided to move his young family back to Maui, where he opened a studio on Front Street and later built a studio in the rear of his Wahikuli home.

Masaru "Pundy" Yokouchi remembers reading in the newspaper about Sato's return to Maui so, curious, he decided to visit his studio.

"I walked in and he looked up at me like, 'Who are you?' " said Yokouchi, now chairman of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Yokouchi ended up spending the entire day with him and then got "carried away" in handing over his first real estate dividend check — the whole $1,000 — to buy two of his paintings. Yokouchi and Sato remained friends over the years.

In 1965 Sato was honored by President Lyndon Johnson at the White House Festival of Arts, alongside Georgia O'Keefe, Jackson Pollock and other American artists. Later he was named a Living Treasure of Hawai'i by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i.

Perhaps his most famous work is "Aquarius,'' the 36-by-36-foot circular mosaic that adorns the floor of the State Capitol atrium. The piece depicts submerged rocks and water reflections.

Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. June 17 at Kahului Union Church, with a service at 3 p.m. The family requests casual attire and no flowers.

He is survived by a daughter, Janice Shimamura, and two sisters, Fumiko Sugai and Keiko Sato.