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Newman’s photograph of Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1893–1953) is a compelling image of the Japanese-born artist. Seated in a relaxed posture on a chaise longue covered with a floral pattern, he wears a heavy wool suit, crew-neck sweater, white shirt, and round glasses, and gazes distractedly out the window. On the right is an early American-style side table on which rest a duck decoy, a compote with grapes, and a white rectangular object like an ashtray. The floor is bare, the wall is light-colored, and above the sitter is the lower portion of a framed artwork. At the left, a window admits light and is set off by vertical molding.
Kuniyoshi arrived in the United States as a teenager, intending to stay about three years while he learned English. One instructor suggested he study art, which he did at the Art Students League in New York. To support his work as a painter and printmaker, Kuniyoshi taught at the League and did commercial photography—mostly shooting art by his friends. In 1927, he began to summer in Woodstock, New York, known for its vital artist colony. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Kuniyoshi experienced some prejudice and was forced to register with the local police who took away his camera, binoculars, and radio. Although he never became an American citizen, he gave anti-fascist speeches for broadcast in Japan, and helped the war effort by designing posters. In 1948, his work was recognized by a retrospective exhibition—the first of its kind—at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The photograph dates to 1941, early in Newman’s series on artists, and presumably before Pearl Harbor. Kuniyoshi is shown warily looking into the distance, perhaps a foretaste of his imminent troubles. The arrangement on the table is an overt reference to his penchant for still lifes, which he typically rendered with tilting perspectives. His other favorite subject was the depiction of languorous and sensuous women. Like Newman’s “environmental portraits,” Kuniyoshi believed the role of the artist was to interpret: “Man and artist are the same. He [the artist] happens to be a man who paints or sculpts and gives expression and interpretation to his life through his medium. He is more sensitive and therefore responds more emotionally to his surroundings, but usually it is through his art and not necessarily through his personality.” [2]
Notes:
[1] Newman quoted in Alan Fern and Arnold Newman, Arnold Newman’s Americans (Boston: Bulfinch/Little Brown & Co., in association with the National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution, 1992), 23.
[2] Kuniyoshi, typed artist’s statement, August 1947, Woodstock Artists Archives, quoted in Josephine Bloodgood, At Woodstock, Kuniyoshi (Woodstock, NY: Woodstock Artists Association, 2003), unpaginated.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
Artist
Arnold Newman
(1918 - 2006)
Subject
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
(1889 - 1953)
Date1941
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsFrame: 16 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (41.3 x 51.4 cm)
Image: 10 x 12 1/2 in. (25.4 x 31.8 cm)
Signed© Arnold Newman
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightDue to rights restrictions this image can not be enlarged or viewed at full screen.
Object number1983.2.3
DescriptionAlthough Arnold Newman photographed some of the most famous and powerful individuals of the late twentieth century, artists were among his favorite subjects. They were accessible, willing, and supportive. “I have never been interested in simply photographing personalities. It is more important for me to interpret my subjects with all the creative controls I have at my disposal. I select certain people because they lend themselves to the visual concepts I wish to express. I abhor the phrase and concept ‘celebrity photographer.’” [1]Newman’s photograph of Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1893–1953) is a compelling image of the Japanese-born artist. Seated in a relaxed posture on a chaise longue covered with a floral pattern, he wears a heavy wool suit, crew-neck sweater, white shirt, and round glasses, and gazes distractedly out the window. On the right is an early American-style side table on which rest a duck decoy, a compote with grapes, and a white rectangular object like an ashtray. The floor is bare, the wall is light-colored, and above the sitter is the lower portion of a framed artwork. At the left, a window admits light and is set off by vertical molding.
Kuniyoshi arrived in the United States as a teenager, intending to stay about three years while he learned English. One instructor suggested he study art, which he did at the Art Students League in New York. To support his work as a painter and printmaker, Kuniyoshi taught at the League and did commercial photography—mostly shooting art by his friends. In 1927, he began to summer in Woodstock, New York, known for its vital artist colony. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Kuniyoshi experienced some prejudice and was forced to register with the local police who took away his camera, binoculars, and radio. Although he never became an American citizen, he gave anti-fascist speeches for broadcast in Japan, and helped the war effort by designing posters. In 1948, his work was recognized by a retrospective exhibition—the first of its kind—at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The photograph dates to 1941, early in Newman’s series on artists, and presumably before Pearl Harbor. Kuniyoshi is shown warily looking into the distance, perhaps a foretaste of his imminent troubles. The arrangement on the table is an overt reference to his penchant for still lifes, which he typically rendered with tilting perspectives. His other favorite subject was the depiction of languorous and sensuous women. Like Newman’s “environmental portraits,” Kuniyoshi believed the role of the artist was to interpret: “Man and artist are the same. He [the artist] happens to be a man who paints or sculpts and gives expression and interpretation to his life through his medium. He is more sensitive and therefore responds more emotionally to his surroundings, but usually it is through his art and not necessarily through his personality.” [2]
Notes:
[1] Newman quoted in Alan Fern and Arnold Newman, Arnold Newman’s Americans (Boston: Bulfinch/Little Brown & Co., in association with the National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution, 1992), 23.
[2] Kuniyoshi, typed artist’s statement, August 1947, Woodstock Artists Archives, quoted in Josephine Bloodgood, At Woodstock, Kuniyoshi (Woodstock, NY: Woodstock Artists Association, 2003), unpaginated.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
Published References
Status
Not on view