Yasuo Kuniyoshi

A Japanese painter who was active in the American art world throughout his life. Born in Okayama City on September 1, 1889. In 1906 (Meiji 39), he dropped out of the dyeing and weaving department at Okayama Prefectural Technical School and traveled to the United States, studying at the Los Angeles Art School, before moving to New York in 1917. He joined the Art Students League and studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller, and also became a member of the anti-academy Penguin Club. He began holding solo exhibitions in 1907, and showed a fantastical naive style in works such as "Boy Stealing Fruit." He traveled to Europe in 1900 and 1903, and switched to a realist style, also beginning to produce lithographs. In 1904, he was selected for the "19 Contemporary American Artists" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and established his position in the art world. He returned to the United States in 1906 and held solo exhibitions in Tokyo and Osaka, and the following year he was recommended as a member of the Nika Association, returning to the United States. In addition to expressing his impressions in still lifes and landscapes, he also painted many sensual and melancholic female figures, such as "I'm Tired." He also won second prize at the Carnegie International Art Exhibition in 1939, and first prize in 1943 for "Someone Tear My Poster." He maintained an anti-Japanese militarist stance during the Pacific War. In 1948 (Showa 23), an unprecedented large-scale retrospective was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In his later years, his colors became more vivid and his expressions more powerful, as in works such as "Revelation." In 1952, he was selected as one of four artists to represent America at the Venice Biennale, but he died in New York on May 14th the following year (Showa 28).

[Tadao Ogura]

"Biography of Yasuo Kuniyoshi by Yoshio Ozawa (1974, Shinchosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

終生アメリカの美術界で活躍した日本国籍の画家。明治22年9月1日岡山市に生まれる。1906年（明治39）岡山県立工業学校染織科を中退して渡米し、ロサンゼルス美術学校に学んだのち、10年ニューヨークに移住。アート・スチューデンツ・リーグに入ってケネス・ヘイズ・ミラーの指導を受け、また反アカデミーのペンギンクラブの会員となる。22年から個展活動を始め、『果物を盗む少年』ほかに幻想的素朴派の作風を示す。25年と28年（昭和3）にヨーロッパ旅行をしてリアリズム画風に転じ、また石版画制作も始める。29年ニューヨーク近代美術館の「19人の現在アメリカ作家展」に選ばれ、画壇の地位を確立。31年帰国して東京と大阪で個展、翌年二科会員に推され、帰米。静物画、風景画に心象を託すほか、『私は疲れた』など官能的でもの憂い女性像を多く描く。またカーネギー国際美術展では39年に二等賞、43年に『誰(だれ)かが私のポスターを破った』で一等賞。太平洋戦争中は反日本軍国主義の立場を貫いた。48年（昭和23）ホイットニー美術館で異例の大回顧展が開かれた。晩年は『啓示』など色彩が鮮烈になり、表現を強め、52年ベネチア・ビエンナーレ展にアメリカ代表4作家の1人として選ばれたが、翌年（昭和28）5月14日ニューヨークで没した。

［小倉忠夫］

『小沢善雄著『評伝国吉康雄』（1974・新潮社）』

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