Yasuo Kuniyoshi
1889
–1953
Death placeNew York, New York, United States of America
BirthplaceOkayama, Japan
BiographyYasuo Kuniyoshi was a highly acclaimed modernist painter, printmaker, and photographer. Born in Okayama, Japan, Kuniyoshi came to the United States when he was sixteen years old. He studied art in Los Angeles before moving to New York City in 1910, where he took painting classes at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League and began to exhibit. He married artist Katherine Schmidt (1899-1978) in 1919 and learned photography to earn money. He traveled to Europe for extended visits in 1925 and 1928. His early painting fused Japanese and European modernist styles with the sensibilities of American folk art, which he collected.
Throughout the 1930s Kuniyoshi’s style shifted away from the imaginative, occasionally humorous early paintings to more realistic and modeled portraits and still lifes that revealed his complex wit and personality. After his divorce, the artist married dancer and actress Sara Mazo (1910–2006), in 1935. He spent winters in New York City and summers at artists' colonies in Ogunquit, Maine, and Woodstock, New York, building a wide network of friends and patrons. He became a popular teacher and lecturer, served on juries for art exhibitions, and held leadership positions in artists' advocacy groups.
Kuniyoshi rooted his life and career in the United States, yet he constantly grappled with his status as an immigrant. Until 1952, the year before his death, it was impossible for Japanese immigrants to become U.S. citizens. His only return trip to Japan in 1931 reinforced his commitment to the life he had built as an American artist. However, following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the U.S. government treated Japanese Americans harshly, and Kuniyoshi faced strict limitations. Officials enforced a curfew, confiscated his camera, and prohibited him from traveling without permission. Despite these restrictions, he remained active, continued to teach and participate in exhibitions. His artwork grew increasingly mysterious and brooking, reflecting wartime anxieties. He also created prints for the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1948, Kuniyoshi became the first living artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Throughout the 1930s Kuniyoshi’s style shifted away from the imaginative, occasionally humorous early paintings to more realistic and modeled portraits and still lifes that revealed his complex wit and personality. After his divorce, the artist married dancer and actress Sara Mazo (1910–2006), in 1935. He spent winters in New York City and summers at artists' colonies in Ogunquit, Maine, and Woodstock, New York, building a wide network of friends and patrons. He became a popular teacher and lecturer, served on juries for art exhibitions, and held leadership positions in artists' advocacy groups.
Kuniyoshi rooted his life and career in the United States, yet he constantly grappled with his status as an immigrant. Until 1952, the year before his death, it was impossible for Japanese immigrants to become U.S. citizens. His only return trip to Japan in 1931 reinforced his commitment to the life he had built as an American artist. However, following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the U.S. government treated Japanese Americans harshly, and Kuniyoshi faced strict limitations. Officials enforced a curfew, confiscated his camera, and prohibited him from traveling without permission. Despite these restrictions, he remained active, continued to teach and participate in exhibitions. His artwork grew increasingly mysterious and brooking, reflecting wartime anxieties. He also created prints for the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1948, Kuniyoshi became the first living artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.