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Yasuo Kuniyoshi: His Life and Art As an Issei

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Yasuo Kuniyoshi: His Life and Art As an Issei Yasuo Kuniyoshi: his life and art as an Issei Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Fujikawa, Fujie, 1949- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 05:47:43 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/558133 YASUO KUNIYOSHI: HIS LIFE AND ART AS AN ISSEI BY FUJIE FUJIKAWA Copyright © Fujie Fujikawa 1990 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ART in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ART WITH A MAJOR IN ART HISTORY In the Graduate college THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1990 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Request for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED:_ 7 z APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Sheld on Reich Date Professor of Art 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As a Japanese I have lived and studied in the United States for nine years. Although my experience of living the two worlds helped understanding psychology pf Yasuo Kuniyoshi, a Japanese immigrant, who Came to America nearly a century ago, I could not have completed this paper without so much assistance received from countless good-hearted people in both countries. I must express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Sheldon Reich, my adviser, whose academic encouragement and understanding patience helped me to maintain my interest in this project. 1 would also like to thank Dr. Ell wood C. Parry HI, Dr Keith McElroy, and Dr. Jeryldene M. Wood for their scholarly enthusiasm for art history that has motivated me to study the same field and for their continuous encouragement given to me since my undergraduate years. I am indebted to Dr. Carol Dieckmann of the biochemistry department, my employer, whose generosity has helped keeping my needy life decent. Many institutions, their staffs, and individuals contributed to my work. Especially I would like to thank the Archives of American Art, Smithonian Institution, Washington D. C. and the staffs of the Art Museum and the Interlibrary Loan of the University of Arizona for their help in obtaining references nationwide and internationally. I express my gratitude to the Center for Computing & Information Technology of the University of Arizona and its staffs; without this access to a computer and their patient assistance, this paper would not have been in the present condition. I wish to thank Mr. Tadao Ogura, Director of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and Mr. Kosaku Inomata (Associate Curator of Art Education) of the Niigata Prefectural Museum of Art, for their prompt and necessary suggestions at difficult points. I am most grateful to Mr. Katsumi Senoo (Assistant Curator of Art Education) of the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, for his sharing information on Kuniyoshi's family background with me that was extremely important in this study. I am especially thankful to Ms. Toyoko Tagawa for sharing her reminiscence of KuniyOshi with Mr. Senoo and myself. To my fellow students at the University of Arizona and friends. Miss. Meleissa Johnson, Miss Kim Alsbrooks, and Miss. Sharon Peacock, I would like to thank for their constant aid in various ways on many occasions. I am greatly thankful to Mrs.Ward Welton, for her long and supportive friendship since 1976, which has always renewed my strength to hold myself together during my struggling life in America. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my parents Mr. and Mrs. AsakicM Fujikawa, and my sister Mrs. Kiyoshi Nishiuchi (former Takie Fujikawa) and her family, all of whom have never stopped trusting in my capability of achievement in my study. Without their emotional and financial support I could not have continued school and this paper would not have been completed at all. Because of her devoted help and encouragement that has kept me alive, and because of her influence on my challenging life, I would respectfully like to dedicate this work on Kuniyoshi to my only sister. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.................................... ......5 ABSTRACT............................................................................................ 6 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER ONE YASUO KUNIYOSHI AS A JAPANESE IN JAPAN.............................. 10 September 1,1889 -1906 CHAPTER TWO YASUO KUNIYOSHI AS AN IMMIGRANT STUDENT ......................20 1906-1919 CHAPTER THREE YASUO KUNIYOSHI AS AN AMERICAN ARTIST................. 31 1920-1929 CHAPTER FOUR YASUO KUNIYOSHI AS AN AMERICAN ARTIST....................... 40 1930 - December 6,1941 CHAPTER FIVE YASUO KUNIYOSHI AS AN AMERICAN ARTIST..................................... 51 December 7,1941 -1947 CHAPTER SIX YASUO KUNIYOSHI AS A MAN.........................................................64 1948 - May 14,1953 NOTES.................. 87 APPENDICES A. MAPS ........................ 134 B. SUMMARY OF KUNIYOSHI'S CAREER 1917 - 1953.................. 135 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 138 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Except Figure 9a, all figures are works by Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Pages Figure 1. Self-Portrait, 1918. Oil on canvas, 19.5" x 15.5" Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd., Okayama, Japan........................ ......................78 Figure 2. Ogunquit Cove. 1920. Oil on canvas, 36"x 22" Fujikawa Gallery, Osaka, Japan......................................................................... 79 Figure 3. Babv with Toy Cow, 1921. Ink drawing on paper, dimension and whereabouts unknown............................ ...................................80 Figure 4. Country Road. 1921. Ink drawing on paper, dimension and whereabouts unknown................................................................80 Figure 5. Untitled mural, 1932. Women’s Lounge, Radio City Music Hall, Rockfeller Center, New York................................................................................................ 81 Figure 6. Cowgirl, c.1941. Gouache on gessoed board. 15"x 11" Museum of Art, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.................................. 81 Figure 7. Torture. 1943. Drawing on paper, 40"x 28.5" Private collection .......................... 82 Figure 8. Headless Horse Who Wants to Tump. 1945. Oil on canvas, 57"x 35" Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan........................................83 Figure 9. An Injured Child, c.1946. Oil on canvas, 18.5"x 14.5" Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, Indiana....................................84 Figure 9a. Yosuke Yamahata, untitled photography of a child, an atomic bomb victim, in Nagasaki, 1945, dimension is unknown G.T. Sun Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan........................ ............................................... 84 Figure 10. Fish Kite. 1950. Oil (possibly acrylic) on canvas, 30"x 51" Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd., Okayama, Japan............................. ........ ........85 Figure 11. Oriental Presents. 1951. Oil on canvas, 3Q"x 50" Private collection. New York ................................................ ..........................85 Figure 12. Twilight. 1952. Drawing (ink wash) on paper, 22"x 28" Whereabouts unknown ........ ............... ............................................................... 86 6 ABSTRACT This thesis is a biographical study of Y. Kuniyoshi and his art. Kuniyoshi's life as an Issei—the first generation of the Japanese immigrants—is not well-known and his art has been overlooked in some recent art history books. This study reconstructs his life and reviews his art as an Issei. While he was a successful artist, teacher, and a leader of artists' movements, Kuniyoshi suffered from racial discrimination and the political fallout of WWII. His art in his later years mirrors the personal conflict resulting from his desire to become an American, that he never legally could, and his nostalgia for Japan. For this study various materials, published and unpublished, in English and/or in Japmiese have been used. 7 INTRODUCTION Mankind is a small part of the whole universe. His life is transient on earth as Buddha said, living the same destiny of birth, disease, aging and death as other living beings. However, only man can express all his emotions and think creatively. From these biological and psychological points and creative capabilities, all human beings are equal on this globe. Unfortunately, there is always injustice, inconsistency, and paradox in man's life. They occur because the human is not infallible, driven by the material desires of his own egoism. This egoism causes problems in both private and public lives. In such a complicated life filled with imperfections, conflicts, and confusions, visual artists have tried to make meaning of their era in their work. Among them is Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953), who created a unique art of personal expression based on his
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