KUNIYOSHI, YASUO

born , Sept. 1, 1893, Okayama, Japan died May 14, 1953, Woodstock, N.Y., U.S. Japanese-born American painter who was an influential teacher and a leader of artists' organizations. Kuniyoshi came to the United States in 1906 and in 1907 began to study painting at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. In 1910 he moved to New York City to attend the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. His early drawings and paintings are imbued with naive fantasy and delightful humour, using plants and animals as subjects. In his mature workwhich shows his indebtedness to Jules Pascinmoody, sensuous women figure predominantly, as in I'm Tired (1938; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City). With the beginning of World War II the artist developed a deep social and political consciousness for which he created his own pictorial symbols, which he believed were rooted in Japanese pictorial tradition. His colouring developed from earthen tones to luminous pastel hues. In 1948 Kuniyoshi was the first living artist in the United States to be awarded a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was also the first president of the Artists Equity Association, and he taught at the Art Students League from 1933; at the New School for Social Research, New York City; and at the artists' colony in Woodstock, N.Y.