Flowers

Hibi, Hisako [ bio ]

Description

Unframed stretched canvas. Image of flowers in vase on table, round fruit on tabletop, dark drapery in background.

Inscription
Signed in caps, LR: Hisako Hibi / Aug 1942

History
In addition to painting, Hibi also wrote quite a lot about her life and work. In many instances Hibi wrote about her experiences in camp and specifically expressed her admiration of the flowers that were planted at the Tanforan Assembly Center and the Topaz Concentration Camp. With regard to this particular painting Hibi remarked that "Their beautiful flowers were cultivated in a vacant lot near the stables by the evacuees since they were interned." In this painting Hibi depicts an array of flowers against the background of some blue-gray drapery. This work was submitted for inclusion in the Relocation Center Art Exhibit which was organized in 1943 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hibi won the award for the best flower painting in that exhibition for which she received a $20 prize. Attached to the back of this work is Hibi's letter of award dated May 19, 1943 from Katherine Seeler who is identified as the Chairman of the Committee for the Relocation Center Art Exhibit.

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).