Guide to the Papers of Asian American Artists at the Archives of American Art

NOTE: This guide was created by the Archives in 1999.
An updated and expanded version is available at www.aaa.si.edu/guides/site-asianamerican

b&w photograph of Yasuo Kuniyoshi in his studio, ca. 1935

Yasuo Kuniyoshi, ca. 1940, in his studio during his work for the Federal Art Project, NYC. Photgrapher: Max Yavno. Archives of American Art, Downtown Gallery Records.

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INTRODUCTION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Archives of American Art exists to preserve and make available primary source documentation on American art, and has, since its founding in 1954, amassed thousands of collections and oral history interviews toward that end. Asian American artists have played an important role in this artistic legacy, and the Archives of American Art is pleased to provide this Preliminary Guide to assist those wishing to use these varied resources in their research.

This preliminary guide has been prepared to coincide with the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month events during the month of May, 1999. A focused project during the summer and fall of 1999 is scheduled to expand the Guide to include more detailed entries, additional resources, and additional links to oral history transcripts and documents, and to publish a print version to reach the widest possible audience.

Paul Karlstrom, the Archives' West Coast Regional Collector, is collaborating on a NEH funded project with San Francisco State University and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco to compile a directory of California Asian American artists. The Archives would like to acknowledge the work of Karlstrom, whose commitment to documenting the lives and work of Asian American artists has resulted in the acquisition of the bulk of the collections and oral history interviews represented in this Guide. We would also like to recognize his collaboration on the 1995 exhibit With New Eyes: Toward an Asian American Art History in the West, at San Francisco State University, and a follow-up project in development to produce a directory of California Asian American artists.

Liza Kirwin contributed to the preparation of this guide, and with Karlstrom, will oversee its expanded print publication. Her earlier published print guides, The Papers of African American Artists and The Papers of Latino American Artists, served as models for this guide and made its preparation an easier task.

The Smithsonian's Office of Education should also be thanked for encouraging the preparation of the guide to coincide with it's Asian American Heritage Month activities; Pat Craig on the Archives' staff was the liaison to the Committee and contributed to the initial draft of the guide.

Christine Mandic, an Archives Technician, was responsible for pulling together the entries from our online catalog, and for assisting in the initial mark-up of the guide into HTML.

Karen Weiss
AAA Information Resources Manager

May 1999

Go to Guide Entries, A-L -- Go to Guide Entries, M-Z