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Street

Photo: Paul Macapia

Street

ca. 1932

Kenjiro Nomura

American (born in Japan), 1896-1956

Fourth Avenue and Yesler Way, a busy intersection in downtown Seattle and the subject of this painting, was at the epicenter of the city’s thriving Japanese American community during the 1920s and 1930s. Here, Nomura launched Noto Sign Co., a signage manufacturer, a popular gathering place for artists, and the headquarters from which he andhis business partner, Kamekichi Tokita, established themselves on the local exhibition circuit.

In 1933, Nomura exhibited Street at the Seattle Art Museum’s Annual Exhibition of Northwest Artists and with it secured the prestigious Katherine B. Baker Award and a place in the permanent collection of the newly formed museum. When SAM officially opened its doors that same year, it was with a solo exhibition of Nomura’s work. His success, however, was cut short. After the Depression forced the closure of Noto Sign Co., he and his family were arrested and detained at the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho. When he returned to Seattle three years later, it was to brutal discrimination and limited opportunities for Japanese Americans.
Oil on canvas
23 3/4 x 28 3/4 in. (60.33 x 73.03 cm)
Gift of West Seattle Art Club, Katherine B. Baker Memorial Purchase Award
33.225
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Institute, Annual Exhibition of Northwest Artists, 1932.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, One-Person Exhibition, June 1933.

Boise, Idaho, Boise Art Institute, Northwest Artists, November 1941.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Prize Paintings, Apr. 7 - May 1, 1960.

Portland, Oregon, University of Washington and Portland Art Museum, Art of the 30s: the Pacific Northwest, 1972.

Seattle, Washington, Pacific Northwest Arts Council, Urban Reflections: Seattle Artists 1930s - 1970s, Nov. - Dec. 1975.

Seattle, Washington, King County Department of Rehabilitative Services, 1976.

Seattle, Washington, Bumberbiennale: Seattle Paintings, 1925-1985, Aug. 30 - Sept. 7, 1985.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Katherine B. Baker 75th Anniversary Exhibition, Apr. - May, 1985.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Views and Visions in the Pacific Northwest, June 7 - Sept. 2, 1990.

Seattle, Washington, Henry Art Gallery, What It Meant to Be Modern: Seattle Art at Mid-Century, Oct. 15, 1999 - Jan. 23, 2000.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The View From Here: The Pacific Northwest 1800-1930, Aug. 8, 2003 - Feb. 29, 2004.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Painting Seattle: Kamekichi Tokita and Kenjiro Nomura, Oct. 22, 2011 - Feb. 19, 2012.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Northwest Modernism: Four Japanese Americans, Mar. 20, 2021 - June 5, 2022.
Published ReferencesKingsbury, Martha, "Art of the 30's: the Pacific Northwest", University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1972, #26, p. 26, ill. p. 47.

"Knowing the Northwest in Art Shows," Washington Education, LXXIII, #2, p. 19, November, 1961.

Callahan, Kenneth, The Town Crier, ill., June 17, 1933.

The Town Crier , December 17, 1932, ill., p. 29.

Johns, Barbara. Kenjiro Nomura American Modernist: An Issei Artist's Journey. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2021; p. 29, reproduced fig. 2.3.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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