Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1893-1953

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was born in 1893 in Okayama, Japan. At the age of thirteen he came to the United States and a year later began studying at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. In 1910 he moved to New York and took courses at the National Academy of Design, the Independent School of Art, and the Art Students League, where he studied with Kenneth Hayes Miller. He was married to fellow artist, Katherine Schmidt from 1919 to 1932, and after traveling throughout Europe, they moved to the Woodstock, New York in 1927 and took part in the Woodstock Art Colony. Kuniyoshi studied and later taught at the Art Students League summer school there. By 1930, he had established himself as an internationally known painter and graphic artist. In New York City he taught at the Art Students League, the New School for Social Research, and served as the first president of the Artists' Equity Association from 1947 to 1950. Kuniyoshi was active in social organizations, especially Japanese American organizations, such as the Japanese American Committee for Democracy, and took an active role in the war effort during World War II. Yasuo Kuniyoshi died in 1953 and was survived by his second wife Sara Mazo who preserved the legacy of his work.

From the guide to the Yasuo Kuniyoshi papers, 1921-1993, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)