Previously On View
Matsumi Kanemitsu: Figure and Fantasy
Date
May 13, 2023 - October 7, 2023
Overview
While living and working in Baltimore in the late 1940s, Matsumi Kanemitsu created a remarkable record of his life to date. This exhibition of 60 early works–largely drawings, as well as rare examples of painting and sculpture–offers an intimate glimpse into Kanemitsu’s past experiences and surreal imagination.
The works on view (for the first time in seven decades) show the artist’s evolution before his later established Abstract Expressionist style. Autobiographical subjects include Kanemitsu’s boyhood in Japan and his fascination with the local flora and fauna, his dual experience as both a prisoner of the U.S. military and an enlisted U.S. soldier who completed a tour of duty in Europe, and portraits of those who formed his community in Baltimore while beginning his artistic career. This concise survey demonstrates the artist’s innate talent for capturing life and synthesizing Eastern and Western aesthetics.
Organized by Leslie Cozzi, BMA Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. This exhibition is generously supported by Kwame Webb and Kathryn Bradley.
The Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings and Photographs
Select Artworks in this Exhibition
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Fish Man
1953
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Cat and I
1953
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Old Man and Young Boy
1953
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Puppet Dream
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
One Afternoon
1953
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Sheet of Sketches
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Box Party
1953
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Untitled
n.d.
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Female Form Embedded in Stone
1942-1957
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Self-Portrait
1942-1957
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Portrait of Mr. Martenet
n.d.
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Scarecrow
1953
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Woman Wearing a Feather Veil Hat
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Screaming Woman in Ocean (Recto); Sketch of a Man and Woman (Verso)
1948
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Springtime
1954
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Winter Night
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Fish in a Pond
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Man Walking
1947
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Model in the Studio with Various Pictures and Sculptures
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Abstract Composition
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Mildred
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Face of a Human
n.d.
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Pearl Diver
n.d.
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Self-Portrait
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Decorated Military Man
1947
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Abstract Composition with Brushstroke Squares of Color and Black Symbol Lines
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Two Faces in Swirling Darkness
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Fish Men
1954
Matsumi Kanemitsu
So Long “Yoshi”!
1952-1954
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Seated Geometric Man
1948
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Curled Up Dog
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Man Near Barbed Wire Fence
1947
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Woman Running Her Fingers Through Her Hair
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Cigarette Smoking
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Two Figures and a Chain-link Fence
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Nude Tattooed Man
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Nude Woman
1949
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Loneliness
1947
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Embrace (Recto); Abstract Composition Study (Verso)
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Drawing S-1
1954
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Gallivanting Nude Figures
1951
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Sideways Glance (Nude Woman)
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Harvest Moon
1951
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Woman Holding a Cat Rendered Naturalistically and Geometrically in Halved Composition
1948
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Two Women Against an Angular Background
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Double Necklace Woman
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Seated Nude Woman
1951
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Chinese Ink Drawing No 672
1951
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Man and Woman in Front of a Fence
1951
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Home Sweet Home
1954
Matsumi Kanemitsu
The Eye
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Group of People in Various Poses
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Letter to J. Blankfard Martenet with a Drawing of People Sitting on Benches in a Park
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Happy Season
1952
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Woman Holding Up Her Head
1950
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Abstracted Rooster
1942-1957
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Flowers In A Vase
1942-1957
Matsumi Kanemitsu
Woman in Red Dress
c. 1950
Gallery Images
