Matsumi Kanemitsu papers
name: label: Creator
content: Kanemitsu, Matsumi
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
label: Topic
content: Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Matsumi Kanemitsu papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1994 and 1998 by Nancy Uyemura, Kanemitsu's former student, friend, and executor.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kanemitsu, Matsumi
setName: label: See more items in
content: Matsumi Kanemitsu papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Matsumi Kanemitsu measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1947-1998. The papers document Kanemitsu's career through biographical material; correspondence with friends, family, artists, universities, and galleries; professional files such as teaching files and work on juried shows; personal and business financial records; printed materials, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Matsumi Kanemitsu (1922-1992), also known as Mike Kanemistu, was a Japanese American painter based in both New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California. Although born in Utah, Kanemitsu lived in Japan until he was eighteen. In 1940 he returned to the United States, joining the Army in 1941. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was detained in several U.S. army camps due to his Japanese ancestry even as he actively served in the military. During this time, he began to draw with pen and ink and pastels. Eventually, he was released and volunteered for overseas duty as a hospital assistant in Europe. His Army tour ended in 1946.

After the war, he studied with Fernand Leger in Paris; with Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Harry Sternberg, and others at the Art Student's League in New York; and with sculptor Karl Metzler in Baltimore. A highly recognized second generation Abstract Expressionist in New York, Kanemitsu came to live permanently in Los Angeles after recieving a Ford Foundation Fellowship in 1961 to work at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, where he created a series of prints that translated sumi painting techniques into lithography. 

He exhibited widely throughout the United States, as well as Japan, and his work is owned by a number of public institutions in the United States and Japan. In addition to his practice, Kanemitsu also held professorial positions at a number of universities and art institutions including the University of California, Berkely; the Chouinard Art Institute; and the Otis Art Institute.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.4 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1947-1998
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kanemats
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as six series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1947-1992 (0.4 Linear feet: Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1947-1992 (1.3 Linear feet: Box 1-2)

Series 3: Professional Files, circa 1961-1990 (0.3 Linear feet: Box 2)

Series 4: Personal Business , circa 1959-1991 (0.4 Linear feet: Box 3)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1961-1998 (0.8 Linear feet: Box 3, OVs 4-7)

Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1960-1992 (0.2 Linear feet: Box 3)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was minimally processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sabine Lipten in 2023. The collection was fully processed, prepared for digitization, and the finding aid updated by Rihoko Ueno in 2024 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee. Additional funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2024 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Matsumi Kanemitsu measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1947-1998. The papers document Kanemitsu's career through biographical material; correspondence with friends, family, artists, universities, and galleries; professional files such as teaching files and work on juried shows; personal and business financial records; printed materials, and photographs.

Biographical material includes resumes, contact and business cards, assorted notes written by Kanemitsu in English and Japanese, and National Geographic membership certificates. There is also a childhood drawing by his daughter Patia Valazquez and a childhood painting by Harumi Zoha Kanemitsu.

Correspondence consist of a mix of personal letters with family and friends, many of which were other artists, as well as professional letters with galleries, museums and colleagues in both English and Japanese. Noteable correspondence include the Akron Art museum, Harold Rosenberg, Harriet and Esteban Vicente, MOMA, Paul Jenkins, Peter Pollack, William De Kooning and others. 

Professional files document Kanemitsu's academic appoitments, roles serving on the exhibition jury for the Utah '88: Painting and Sculpture exhibition and as a Friends of Little Tokyo Arts (FOLTA) member, commission work and an application for the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. 

Personal business records include sale, consignment and loan recipets, shipping records, gallery correspondence and other documents related to the creation, commission and sale of Kanemitu's work such as artwork inventory lists, gallery consignment records and commission invoices. This series also includes records pertaining to Kanemitu's travel and buisness expenses, personal finances and art collecting. 

Printed Material includes exhibition announcements, invitations and catalogs, magazines, posters, a posthumous retrospective exhibition catalog written in English and Japanese, clippings in English and Japanese and other miscellaneous materials. 

Photographic Material primarily include photographs of Kanemitsu, his children and friends. Also found are photographs of artwork, miscellaneous photographs of a winter landscape, a house and street in Japan and two slides of artwork titled Phil.