End of Juanita

1942

In this work, Yasuo Kuniyoshi takes on a subject typical of his later career: the still life. He named the pitcher depicted in this painting “Juanita” after purchasing it in Mexico on his honeymoon.

Born in Japan, Kuniyoshi moved to California as a teenager. After studying in Los Angeles, he settled in New York. There, he was influenced by European modernist styles that his artist friends were exploring, as well as by Japanese design and iconography, reflected in this monochromatic and flattened composition. Though he was labeled an “enemy alien” after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, like many other Japanese Americans, Kuniyoshi remained pro-American and even designed posters for the Office of War Information.