Wire Cyclist

Yasuo Kuniyoshi drew inspiration from American folk art, European modernism, and Japanese design. Circus performers such as this high wire cyclist were a favorite subject of his. Kuniyoshi’s turn to realism in the 1920s is characterized by a sense of unease and uncanny, as was the case for many of his peers working between the World Wars. Vertiginously, the viewer looks up toward the top of this circus tent and simultaneously down at the performer.

Although Kuniyoshi was prevented from becoming a U.S. citizen and classified during World War II as an “enemy alien,” he identified as American and played a vital role in connecting artistic communities in New York, Paris, and Japan.