My Man

Yasuo Kuniyoshs My Man from 1943 is a casein on board painting that exemplifies the Japanese-born American artists approach to the figure, in which the simplified forms and offbeat colors of his mature style are deployed in a composition that reflects the personal and political difficulties of an artist who was classified as an enemy alien by the United States government during World War II. Kuniyoshi, who had immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1907 and had become one of the most celebrated painters in America by the 1930s, found himself in an impossible position after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, when he was classified as an enemy alien and subjected to the restrictions and surveillance that the government imposed on Japanese Americans during the war. The title My Man, with its suggestion of personal affection and domestic familiarity, may reflect Kuniyoshis determination to assert his American identity and his loyalty to the United States at a time when the government was questioning both. The casein on board medium, a water-based paint that dries to a matte finish and is commonly used for illustration and commercial art, reflects Kuniyoshis background in commercial art and his preference for working in media that are associated with American popular culture rather than European fine art tradition. The simplified forms and offbeat colors of the composition, with their combination of humor and melancholy, are characteristic of Kuniyoshis mature style and reflect the combination of American folk art and European Modernism that had been the basis of his artistic development.

Kuniyoshis wartime paintings are significant documents for understanding the experience of Japanese American artists during World War II, and My Man demonstrates the combination of personal and political difficulties that shaped his work during this period. The painting influenced the discourse on race, identity, and artistic production in wartime America.

A 1943 casein on board painting by Kuniyoshi titled My Man, reflecting the impossible position of a Japanese-born American painter classified as an enemy alien during WWII, asserting American identity through folk art simplified forms and commercial art media with humor and melancholy.