Label Text
Exhibition History"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, Nov. 1 - Dec. 24, 1989, (circulated to: Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art: Jan. 5 - Feb. 12, 1990; The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Feb. 20 - April 1, 1990)
"Yashuo Kuniyoshi," Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, N.Y., Apr. 11 - June 19, 1986, (circulated to: Boston University Art Gallery Sept. 12 - Oct. 19, 1986; Des Moines Art Center Nov. 24, 1986 - Jan. 12, 1987; Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Clinton, New York, Feb. 2 - Mar. 8, 1987; The High Museum at Georgia Pacific Center, Atlanta, Apr. 13 - June 6, 1987; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA, June 27 - Aug. 23, 1987)
"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," organized by the Waterloo Municipal Galleries, sponsored by the National Bank of Waterloo, Oct. 24 - Nov. 20, 1983, (circulated to: Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, Jan. 15 - Feb. 26, 1984; Muscatine Art Center, April 1 - May 13, 1984; Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, May 27 - July 1, 1984; Sioux City Art Center, July 15 - Aug. 26, 1984)
"From Foreign Shores: Three Centuries of Art by Foreign-Born American Masters," Milwaukee Art Center, Oct. 15 - Nov. 28, 1976, ill. p.111
Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, Feb. 9 - Mar. 23, 1975, (circulated to: Elvehjem Art Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Apr. 13 - May 18, 1975; Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, June 8 - July 13, 1975)
"The Kirsch Years: 1936-1958," selections from the collection of the Des Moines Art Center and the University of Nebraska of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 7 - Feb. 10, 1974; University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, Feb. 25 - Mar. 31, 1974
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Florida, Gainesville, Feb. 7 - Mar. 30, 1969, (circulated to the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 7 - June 29, 1969)
"Art of the United States: 1670-1966," Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y., Sept. 27 - Nov. 27, 1966
"Between the Fairs: Twenty-five Years of American Art, 1939-1964," Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y., June 24 - Sept. 30, 1964
"American National Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture," organized by the United Stated Information Agency, (circulated to: Moscow, July 25 - Sept. 5, 1959; Whitney Museum of American Art, Oct. 20 - Nov. 8, 1959; San Francisco Museum of American Art, Dec. 8, 1959 - Jan. 1, 1960)
"Sports and Recreation Panorama," Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, Apr. 5 - May 3, 1959, ill.
"The American Vision," Wildenstein and Co., N.Y., Oct. 22 - Nov. 16, 1957
"American Painting 1954," Virginia Museum, Richmond, Feb. 26 - Mar. 21, 1954; Des Moines Art Center, Apr. 4 - May 2, 1954, (99 paintings selected by Dwight Kirsch by leading American artists since January 1950)
"Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture," University of Illinois, Urbana, 1953
"Fifteenth Annual Fine Arts Festival: Paintings by American Masters," State University of Iowa School of Fine Arts, Iowa City, IA, June 17 to July 31, 1953.
Published ReferencesAN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. pp.32 & 167, color ill. p.166
MASTERS OF MODERN JAPANESE ART, VOL. KUNIYOSHI, Zauho Press, Tokyo, 1976, ref. no.20, pl. no.20, p.145
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi," Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, N. Y., 1986, exh. cat. ref.
Alexander Elliot, THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN PAINTING, New York, 1957, color ill. p.253, ref. p.255
TIME, July 13, 1959, color ill.
DES MOINES REGISTER, July 2, 1959, ill.
Dwight Kirsch, "Home on the Hill," THE IOWAN MAGAZINE, vol.6, no.5, June/July 1958, ref. & ill. p.46
THE BRITANNICA ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN ART, Encylopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, Chicago, 1973, color ill. p.326
John I.H. Baur, NEW ART IN AMERICA, New York, 1960, ill. p.159
TIME, Oct. 31, 1955, color ill. p.77
DES MOINES REGISTER, May 3, 1962
DMAC Bulletin, Sept. 1959, ill.
Luise C. Kainz and Olive L. Riley, UNDERSTANDING ART: PEOPLE, THINGS AND IDEAS, New York, 1966, ill. pl.77, p.144.
Guy Hubbard, "Art from Small and Mid-Sized Museums," ARTS & ACTIVITIES, v.122, no.1, Sept. 1997, color ill. p.30
YASUO KUNIYOSHI, Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo, 1974, cat. no.19, b/w ill. p.27, color ill. no.19, p.19
Robert L. Polley, ed., GREAT ART TREASURES IN AMERICA'S SMALLER MUSEUMS, New York, 1967, ill. p.104
DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER, Feb. 9, 1964, ill.
Daniel M. Mendelowitz, A HISTORY OF AMERICAN ART, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, N. Y., 1971, ref. p.404, ill. pl.547
Hideo Tomiyama, YASUO KUNIYOSHI, Fukutake Publishing Co., Okayama, Japan, 1991, color ill. p.164
THE ARTISTS' AMERICA, American Hermitage Publishing Co., Inc., N. Y., 1973, color ill. p.312
"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," Waterloo Municipal Galleries, 1983, exh. cat. no.20
"Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture," University of Illinois, Urbana, 1953, exh. cat. no.68, ill. pl. no.29, p.195
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, 1975, exh. cat. no.19, color ill. (published in Japan)
"Between the Fairs: Twenty-five Years of American Art, 1939 - 1964," Whitney Museum of American Art, N. Y., 1964, exh. cat. no.69, ill. p.15
Everard M. Upjohn and John P. Sedgwich, Jr., HIGHLIGHTS: AN ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK OF THE HISTORY OF ART, New York, 1963, ill. p.291
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Florida, Gainesville, 1969, exh. cat. no.44
"American National Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture," Archives of American Art, Detroit, MI, 1959, exh. cat. no.27, color ill. (published in Russian)
Joe Buhler and Ron Graham, "Fountain, Showers, and Cascades," THE SCIENCES, Vol.24, No.I, Jan./Feb. 1984, b/w ill. p.46
"From Foreign Shores: Three Centuries of Art by Foreign-Born American Masters," Milwaukee Art Center, 1976, exh. cat. no.51, ill. p.111
"Art of the United States: 1670 - 1966," Whitney Museum of American Art, N. Y., 1966, exh. cat. no.165, ill. p.110
Marjorie Farmer, et al, COMPOSITION AND GRAMMAR 12 - STEPS IN THE WRITING PROCESS, Laidlaw Brothers, River Forest, IL, 1984, color ill. p.304
ADVENTURES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE, Heritage Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, and London, color ill. p.692
"Sports and Recreation Panorama," Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, 1959, exh. cat. ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.134 & 135, b/w ill. pl.75, p.135
"The Kirsch Years: 1936 - 1958," Des Moines Art Center and the University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, 1974, exh. cat. no.35
This, one of the artist's last completed works, is sometimes thought to be autobiographical. Melancholy is often suggested in his series of circus performers, and can indeed be seen in the eyes behind the mask of the Amazing Juggler. Perhaps those eyes refer to Kuniyoshi's early years in the U.S.A. or the fact that he was denied citizenship beause of his national origin.
from file folder 2
Exhibition History"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, Nov. 1 - Dec. 24, 1989, (circulated to: Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art: Jan. 5 - Feb. 12, 1990; The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Feb. 20 - April 1, 1990)
"Yashuo Kuniyoshi," Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, N.Y., Apr. 11 - June 19, 1986, (circulated to: Boston University Art Gallery Sept. 12 - Oct. 19, 1986; Des Moines Art Center Nov. 24, 1986 - Jan. 12, 1987; Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Clinton, New York, Feb. 2 - Mar. 8, 1987; The High Museum at Georgia Pacific Center, Atlanta, Apr. 13 - June 6, 1987; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA, June 27 - Aug. 23, 1987)
"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," organized by the Waterloo Municipal Galleries, sponsored by the National Bank of Waterloo, Oct. 24 - Nov. 20, 1983, (circulated to: Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, Jan. 15 - Feb. 26, 1984; Muscatine Art Center, April 1 - May 13, 1984; Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, May 27 - July 1, 1984; Sioux City Art Center, July 15 - Aug. 26, 1984)
"From Foreign Shores: Three Centuries of Art by Foreign-Born American Masters," Milwaukee Art Center, Oct. 15 - Nov. 28, 1976, ill. p.111
Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, Feb. 9 - Mar. 23, 1975, (circulated to: Elvehjem Art Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Apr. 13 - May 18, 1975; Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, June 8 - July 13, 1975)
"The Kirsch Years: 1936-1958," selections from the collection of the Des Moines Art Center and the University of Nebraska of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 7 - Feb. 10, 1974; University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, Feb. 25 - Mar. 31, 1974
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Florida, Gainesville, Feb. 7 - Mar. 30, 1969, (circulated to the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 7 - June 29, 1969)
"Art of the United States: 1670-1966," Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y., Sept. 27 - Nov. 27, 1966
"Between the Fairs: Twenty-five Years of American Art, 1939-1964," Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y., June 24 - Sept. 30, 1964
"American National Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture," organized by the United Stated Information Agency, (circulated to: Moscow, July 25 - Sept. 5, 1959; Whitney Museum of American Art, Oct. 20 - Nov. 8, 1959; San Francisco Museum of American Art, Dec. 8, 1959 - Jan. 1, 1960)
"Sports and Recreation Panorama," Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, Apr. 5 - May 3, 1959, ill.
"The American Vision," Wildenstein and Co., N.Y., Oct. 22 - Nov. 16, 1957
"American Painting 1954," Virginia Museum, Richmond, Feb. 26 - Mar. 21, 1954; Des Moines Art Center, Apr. 4 - May 2, 1954, (99 paintings selected by Dwight Kirsch by leading American artists since January 1950)
"Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture," University of Illinois, Urbana, 1953
"Fifteenth Annual Fine Arts Festival: Paintings by American Masters," State University of Iowa School of Fine Arts, Iowa City, IA, June 17 to July 31, 1953.
Published ReferencesAN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. pp.32 & 167, color ill. p.166
MASTERS OF MODERN JAPANESE ART, VOL. KUNIYOSHI, Zauho Press, Tokyo, 1976, ref. no.20, pl. no.20, p.145
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi," Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, N. Y., 1986, exh. cat. ref.
Alexander Elliot, THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN PAINTING, New York, 1957, color ill. p.253, ref. p.255
TIME, July 13, 1959, color ill.
DES MOINES REGISTER, July 2, 1959, ill.
Dwight Kirsch, "Home on the Hill," THE IOWAN MAGAZINE, vol.6, no.5, June/July 1958, ref. & ill. p.46
THE BRITANNICA ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN ART, Encylopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, Chicago, 1973, color ill. p.326
John I.H. Baur, NEW ART IN AMERICA, New York, 1960, ill. p.159
TIME, Oct. 31, 1955, color ill. p.77
DES MOINES REGISTER, May 3, 1962
DMAC Bulletin, Sept. 1959, ill.
Luise C. Kainz and Olive L. Riley, UNDERSTANDING ART: PEOPLE, THINGS AND IDEAS, New York, 1966, ill. pl.77, p.144.
Guy Hubbard, "Art from Small and Mid-Sized Museums," ARTS & ACTIVITIES, v.122, no.1, Sept. 1997, color ill. p.30
YASUO KUNIYOSHI, Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo, 1974, cat. no.19, b/w ill. p.27, color ill. no.19, p.19
Robert L. Polley, ed., GREAT ART TREASURES IN AMERICA'S SMALLER MUSEUMS, New York, 1967, ill. p.104
DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER, Feb. 9, 1964, ill.
Daniel M. Mendelowitz, A HISTORY OF AMERICAN ART, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, N. Y., 1971, ref. p.404, ill. pl.547
Hideo Tomiyama, YASUO KUNIYOSHI, Fukutake Publishing Co., Okayama, Japan, 1991, color ill. p.164
THE ARTISTS' AMERICA, American Hermitage Publishing Co., Inc., N. Y., 1973, color ill. p.312
"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," Waterloo Municipal Galleries, 1983, exh. cat. no.20
"Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture," University of Illinois, Urbana, 1953, exh. cat. no.68, ill. pl. no.29, p.195
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, 1975, exh. cat. no.19, color ill. (published in Japan)
"Between the Fairs: Twenty-five Years of American Art, 1939 - 1964," Whitney Museum of American Art, N. Y., 1964, exh. cat. no.69, ill. p.15
Everard M. Upjohn and John P. Sedgwich, Jr., HIGHLIGHTS: AN ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK OF THE HISTORY OF ART, New York, 1963, ill. p.291
"Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective," University of Florida, Gainesville, 1969, exh. cat. no.44
"American National Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture," Archives of American Art, Detroit, MI, 1959, exh. cat. no.27, color ill. (published in Russian)
Joe Buhler and Ron Graham, "Fountain, Showers, and Cascades," THE SCIENCES, Vol.24, No.I, Jan./Feb. 1984, b/w ill. p.46
"From Foreign Shores: Three Centuries of Art by Foreign-Born American Masters," Milwaukee Art Center, 1976, exh. cat. no.51, ill. p.111
"Art of the United States: 1670 - 1966," Whitney Museum of American Art, N. Y., 1966, exh. cat. no.165, ill. p.110
Marjorie Farmer, et al, COMPOSITION AND GRAMMAR 12 - STEPS IN THE WRITING PROCESS, Laidlaw Brothers, River Forest, IL, 1984, color ill. p.304
ADVENTURES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE, Heritage Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, and London, color ill. p.692
"Sports and Recreation Panorama," Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, 1959, exh. cat. ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.134 & 135, b/w ill. pl.75, p.135
"The Kirsch Years: 1936 - 1958," Des Moines Art Center and the University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, 1974, exh. cat. no.35
DimensionsFrame: 74 3/8 × 49 9/16 × 1 3/4 in. (188.9 × 125.9 × 4.4 cm)
Image (visible): 64 3/4 × 39 5/8 in. (164.5 × 100.6 cm)
Image (visible): 64 3/4 × 39 5/8 in. (164.5 × 100.6 cm)
Accession Number 1954.24
Classificationspainting
Copyright© Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
SignedKuniyoshi (l,l oil paint)
ProvenanceArtist. (Downtown Gallery, New York [acquired by 1953]); Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1954]
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