Vegetables

Hibi, Hisako [ bio ]

Description

Unframed stretched canvas. Image of eggplant, green onion, tomato, etc. on blue drapery and brown table.

Inscription
Signed LR: Hisako Hibi /Aug 1945 ; BACK: 'Topaz Products' many thanks to the hard working Topaz agricultural Dept.

History
This painting is possibly one of the last still life images completed by Hisako Hibi while at the Topaz concentration camp. Painted in August of 1945 it is probably also one of the last paintings Hibi completed in camp. Several vegetables are arranged on a table on blue drapery. Hibi provides relatively more modeling for these objects than some of her other still life paintings. She uses different shades of color to create this effect. The large brown vegetable anchors the painting and provides the focus for the image. The inscription on the back notes that Hibi again was thinking of the Topaz Agricultural Department when she painted this work. Almost all of her other still life works reference her gratitude to those who provided the vegetables that supplemented the meals at Topaz.

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).