My Man

In My Man, Japanese-born artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi depicted a common sight during World War II: a woman embracing a sailor. Kuniyoshi’s version of the scene depicts a blond-haired man and an Asian woman at a time when the loyalty of Japanese Americans was being questioned. Even as tens of thousands of Japanese Americans enlisted or already served in the United States military, the government imprisoned thousands of citizens of Japanese descent in incarceration camps between 1942 and 1945. Kuniyoshi was labeled an “enemy alien,” and his assets were frozen. The dealer Edith Halpert, herself an immigrant, promoted his work throughout the war and sold this painting to the Art Institute shortly after he created it.