My Fate is in Your Hand
Artist
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
(American, born Japan, 1889 - 1953)
Date1950
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 40 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches (102.24 x 61.6 cm)
Framed: 50 3/4 x 35 x 2 inches (128.91 x 88.9 x 5.08 cm)
Framed: 50 3/4 x 35 x 2 inches (128.91 x 88.9 x 5.08 cm)
Credit LineGift of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. in memory of William T. Kemper
Object numberF94-2
On View
On viewGallery Location
- L2
Collections
DescriptionVertical in format, this painting is a representational scene with a bright palette dominated by red and yellow. large palm, holding a caterpillar, occupies the left side of the canvas. To the right, a grasshopper symbolically divides the composition between foreground and background. figures appear in the lower right; a nude, pregnant woman stands back to back with a larger woman, clothed with mask-like features and hands clasped.Gallery LabelMy Fate Is in Your Hand was painted five years after the end of World War II. Its jewel-like colors and geometric composition suggest joy and order. However, the caterpillar held in the palm of a hand and the grasshopper clinging to the painting’s vertical edge are reminders that forces beyond our control can affect our lives.
Yasuo Kuniyoshi immigrated to the United States in 1906. Throughout his life he faced anti-Asian bigotry. Although he evaded the Japanese internment camps during World War II, Kuniyoshi was designated an “enemy alien” by the American government. Despite discrimination, he worked for the U.S. cause during the war.
Copyright© Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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