Title:
April 16, 1944-A midnight storm
Creator/Contributor:
Hibi, Hisako
Date:
4/1/1944
Identifier:
96.601.39
Format:
painting
oil on canvas
Description:
Unframed stretched canvas. Image of a child carrying an umbrella walking towards barracks. There are piles of snow off to
the side of them. Smoke comes from a stack in the distance.
Historical Note:
In this painting Hisako Hibi portrays a scene of Topaz concentration camp after a storm. Much of the snow has already melted,
creating puddles and a slushy mud ground. A child with an umbrella walks along a plank laid over the slush, presumably to
get back to one of the barracks at the left of the painting. The work of shoveling the snow and slush away from the barracks
has already been accomplished. In the center of the canvas is a mound of snow and slush as evidence of this work. Hibi creates
the sense of muddy ground with a layering of light washes of color. Beneath the plank is a puddle of water, discernible mostly
by the reflection of the barrack rooftop on the surface. A large chimney in the background spews a chain of black smoke into
the hazy sky.
Subject:
Concentration Camps, Topaz | barracks | person | bag | snow