Untitled

Sugimoto, Henry [ bio ]

Description

Unstretched and unframed. Formerly stapled onto 92.97.117. 1 painting : image 31 x 38.875 in., unstretched canvas 33 x 41.125 in.

Split image of Buddhist and Christian couples praying. Scene on left, a man in tan shirt holds hands in gassho (put hands together and bow head) while holding juzu (Buddhist prayer beads) next to a woman in brown. Both sit with their backs to the viewer facing a table with a blue runner, a bowl of fruit and black bowl of burning incense. Above it floats an image of a Bodhisattva, Yakushinyorai, swathed in robes in a golden oval in a field of blue. To the left, a tan strip of kanji, "Namu Amidabutsu." Scene on right, a man in blue shirt folds his hands in front of his face as he leans against a table covered by a white cloth, a Bible (Seisho) in front of him, next to a woman in brown. Both sit turned three quarters away from the viewer facing a table with a tan triangle cloth under a bowl of red flowers. Above it, a golden cross stands in a blue oval against a tan field. To the right, a blue strip of Japanese writing, "Kami wa Ai nari (God is love)."

Inscription
Signed in medium, bottom left corner: H. Sugimoto

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).