Self portrait

Sugimoto, Henry [ bio ]

Description

Stretched and framed.

Self portrait of Henry Sugimoto. Artist has depicted himself in profile, at left, with a blank canvas in front of him on an easel, at right. A potbelly stove is visible between the two in the background. Sugimoto wears a black beret and a red jacket with collar up over a white shirt. He gazes out directly at viewer.

Inscription
Signed in medium, bottom left: H. Sugimoto. Written on back: Self Portrait/ Painted this portrait 1931/ 1931 / (In Japanese) Pari nite / Henry Sugimoto.

History
The stove in the background and general atmosphere of the room suggest that this portrait may have been done in camp. The extremely naturalistic rendering of the face and clothing differs from Sugimoto's camp period work; however, it might have been used for the self-portrait, where exceptionally close study of the subject was possible, and may not be indicative of a style shift (Sugimoto's portrait of his wife, done at the Fresno Assembly Center, is similar in style). The signature is followed by a blotted out area which may be a location or date. (KE)

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).