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.