Object Details
- Artist
- Roger Shimomura, born 1939
- Sitter
- Roger Shimomura, born 1939
- Exhibition Label
- Born Seattle, Washington
- Roger Shimomura’s artwork casts a light on the alienation experienced by many Asian Americans. He knows well the pain associated with xenophobia, and the feeling of disconnect between the symbol of the American flag and the lived experience of those who exist simultaneously as “an other” and “a citizen.” As a small child during World War II, he and his family were relocated from their home in Seattle to a Japanese American incarceration camp in Idaho. The experience of displacement in his family’s new homeland shaped his identity.
- The source for this painting is Emanuel Leutze’s monumental oil on canvas Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851). Shimomura has positioned himself in the guise of George Washington with samurai warriors as his Continental troops. The body of water resembles San Francisco’s harbor with Angel Island, the processing center for Asian immigrants, in the background. The work echoes the compositions of Katsushika Hokusai’s wood-block prints.
- Nacido en Seattle, Washington
- La obra de Roger Shimomura arroja luz sobre el aislamiento que han padecido muchos asiáticoamericanos y la desconexión entre lo que representa la bandera estadounidense y las vivencias de aquellos que existen como “ciudadanos” y a la vez como “otros”. De pequeño, durante la 2a Guerra Mundial, Shimomura y su familia fueron trasladados de su hogar en Seattle a un campamento de reclusión para japoneses-americanos en Idaho. Esa experiencia de desplazamiento en la nueva patria de su familia marcó su identidad.
- Esta pintura se inspira en el monumental óleo sobre lienzo de Emanuel Leutze, Washington cruzando el Delaware (1851). Shimomura se presenta a semejanza de George Washington, con guerreros samuráis en vez de soldados del Ejército Continental. El cuerpo de agua aparenta ser el puerto de San Francisco y al fondo está la Isla de los Ángeles, antiguo centro de procesamiento de inmigrantes asiáticos. La composición tiene ecos de los grabados en madera de Katsushika Hokusai.
- Provenance
- The artist
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Raymond L. Ocampo Jr., Sandra Oleksy Ocampo, and Robert P. Ocampo
- 2010
- Object number
- NPG.2012.71
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Roger Shimomura
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Acrylic on canvas
- Dimensions
- 3 canvas panels each: 182.9 x 121.9cm (72 x 48")
- Overall Unframed: 182.9 x 365.8cm (72 x 144")
- Overall Framed: 193 x 375.9cm (76 x 148")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 2000 to Present
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 341
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Weapon\Sword
- Costume\Headgear\Hat\Tricorne
- Vehicle\Boat
- Equipment\Sports Equipment\Oar
- Allegorical
- Self-portrait
- Triptych
- Exterior\Waterscape\Riverscape
- Symbols & Motifs\Flag\National flag\American
- Roger Shimomura: Male
- Roger Shimomura: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2012.71
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm45a117065-dd31-4908-a6d6-757ca5fbda34
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