Image assets for this folder have not been fully processed.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sabine Lipten and Rihoko Ueno
Scope and Contents
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.
Funding
Sponsor
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from 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.
Processing Information
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.
