Title:
Bombing of Relatives Homeland, 1945
Creator/Contributor:
Sugimoto, Henry
Date:
ca. 1965
Identifier:
92.97.8
Format:
painting
oil on canvas
New York, N.Y.
Inscription:
Signed in medium: H. Sugimoto, Rohwer Camp, Ark.
Decription:
Stretched and unframed. People in camp react to a flyer about the U.S. dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In foreground,
man in blue short-sleeve shirt and black cap with his hand on his head, reads, "Rohwer Camp Bulletin, U.S. dropped Atomic
Bomb on Hiroshima." In left foreground two men in tan hats discuss bombing. Man in blue overalls, holding shovel in right
hand and holding pipe to mouth with left hand listens to other man dressed in tan shirt and brown pants holding a paper in
right hand and pointing with left to right background where a vision of an Atomic bomb mushroom cloud rises as a small plane
flies away. In the midground three women with a child discuss the paper next to a garden where a man hoes. Behind them, two
men discuss the bombing as a woman and child pass by and a woman hangs laundry in front of the barracks. In the background
an American flag flies in front of a mess hall. A watchtower with a soldier on duty is visible in the distance.
Historical Note:
The date 1945 written on the canvas indicates the year of the activity, not the year it was painted. From Sugimoto's writings
we know he was already in New York City at the time of the actual bombing; in addition, the work stylistically resembles later
works. This work has been tentatively dated to 1965.
Subject:
Concentration Camps, Rohwer
Rohwer Relocation Center (Ark.)
World War, 1939-1945
Japan
Hiroshima-shi (Japan)
Bombardment, 1945
Japanese Americans
Gardens
Atomic bomb