Japanese-American Artists and the Internationalization of Post-war Japanese Art

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00153
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 01050:Aesthetics and art studies-related
• Research Institution: Seitoku University
• Principal Investigator: Kuwahara Noriko 聖徳大学, 文学部, 教授 (90364976)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 日系アメリカ人 / 日米美術交流 / 戦後日本美術 / 国際化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Through a survey of the activities of Japanese-American artists (both in Japan and in the U.S.) from 1945 to the first half of the 1960s, this study aimed to establish the roles they played in the internationalization of postwar Japanese art.
As a result, I found that Ansei Uchima served as a bridge between expatriate Americans in Japan and Japanese artists, George Tsutakawa acted as a host for Japanese artists invited to the U.S., and Isamu Noguchi acted as a facilitator for a Japanese artist's participation in an international exhibition held in the U.S., as well as a supporter of visiting Japanese artists and of Uchima on his return to the U.S.. Thus they made important contributions to the exchange of art between the U.S. and Japan.

Free Research Field

日本美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

在日・在米の日系アメリカ人美術家たちが戦後日本美術の復興と国際化に果たした役割については、具体的な研究がほとんど行われず、日本の戦後美術史にも記述されてこなかった。本研究では、日米の美術館や研究機関、作家遺族宅に所蔵されている資料の調査に基づき、彼らが関与した活動とその意義について明らかにした。それによって、日系アメリカ人が果たした役割が明確となり、これまで見落とされてきた戦後美術史の新たな側面が解明されることに繋がったと考える。