"Terms of Endearment: Social Parameters of Yasuo Kuniyoshi’s American Success"

Bert Winther-Tamaki
Professor of Visual Studies, University of California, Irvine

The painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953) received more exhibitions, reviews, and prizes than any other Japanese American artist of his generation. In addition to his talent, skill, and perseverance, this exceptional success may be attributed to his ability to forge an oeuvre of nudes, still lifes, and landscapes that held novel appeal while avoiding taboos that circumscribed the activities of Asian male immigrants in American society in the early and mid-20th century.