Isami Doi (May 12, 1903 – November 29, 1965) was an American printmaker and painter.

Biography

Doi was the first son of Japanese immigrants, born in

Ewa Ewa or EWA may refer to: Places ; Ethiopia * Ewa (woreda) ; Nauru * Ewa District, Nauru ; United States * Eastern Washington, the portion of the state of Washington east of the Cascade Range * ʻEwa Beach, Hawaii, a census-designated place * E ...

on the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

in the Hawaiian Islands in 1903. He moved with his family to the island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

, and he thereafter considered Kalaheo, Kauai his home.Forbes, David W., "Encounters with Paradise", p. 268 Doi studied for two years at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, went on to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

for five years, and then continued his studies for a year in Paris. In 1927 his print ''Woodstock Village'' was named one of the 50 best prints in America. He stayed in New York until 1938, when he returned to the Hawaiian Islands. Doi taught printmaking, drawing, and metal work. He also designed jewelry for the S. and S. Gumps store, a San Francisco firm that had opened a store in Honolulu in 1929, and later for Mings jewelers. His first solo show at the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

took place in April 1929, and featured painted landscapes of the mountains of Kauai as well as fifteen prints. His early works are painted in muted duns and browns, and have a discreet erotic quality. Mid-way in his career, he included symbols inherited from Greece and Rome, such as centaurs, broken columns, and sphinxes. An example of this is the painting ''Caucasian-Hawaiian'', in the collection of the

Hawaii State Art Museum The No. 1 Capitol District Building, on the site of the former Armed Services YMCA Building, now houses the Hawaii State Art Museum and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. History While they were both in the cabinet, under King ...

. As his spirituality deepened, his works became closer to pure abstraction, with orange and vermilion signifying flames and light. A simplified Buddha shape is Doi's hieroglyph for meditation. In his last works in the 1960s, he set aside all symbols, returning to painting the cliffs of Kauai, which he had come to view as spiritual entities. ''Early Spring'', in the collection of the

, is an example of these later abstract paintings. Doi's works were shown at the New York World's Fair and Treasure Island in San Francisco. Doi died in Kalaheo, Hawaii in 1965.

Legacy

Doi inspired other Japanese American artists from Hawaii such as

Satoru Abe Satoru Abe (born 13 June 1926) is a Japanese American sculptor and painter. Biography Abe was born in Moiliili, a district of Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended President William McKinley High School, where he took art lessons from Shirley Xime ...

, showing them that it's possible to have a career as an artist outside of Hawaii while using local themes and motifs. The

, the

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

(Kansas City, Missouri), the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

(Washington, D. C.) and the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...

(Ann Arbor, Michigan) are among the public collections holding works by Isami Doi.

Awards

* Second prize, Honolulu Print Makers' Sixteenth Show

References

* Behlke, David, ''Isami Doi'' Bamboo Ridge Press, Honolulu, Issue 73, Spring 1998, pp. 41–65. * Chang, Gordon H., Mark Dean Johnson, Paul J. Karlstrom & Sharon Spain, Asian American Art, a History, 1850-1970, Stanford University Press, , pp. 15, 28, 34, 102, 326, 497 & 499 * Department of Education, State of Hawaii, ''Artists of Hawaii'', Honolulu, Department of Education, State of Hawaii, 1985, pp. 1–6. * Doi, Isami, Excerpts from "Letters to Satoru Abe, 1952-1965" in ''Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawai'i Literature and Arts'', Spring 1998, 57-64. * Ellis, George R. and Marcia Morse, ''A Hawaii Treasury, Masterpieces from the Honolulu Academy of Arts'', Tokyo, Asahi Shimbun, 2000, 155, 225. * Forbes, David W., "Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778-1941", Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, 211-269. * Haar, Francis and Neogy, Prithwish, "Artists of Hawaii: Nineteen Painters and Sculptors", University of Hawaii Press, 1974, 3-7, * Hartwell, Patricia L. (editor), ''Retrospective 1967-1987'',

Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts The Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts was established by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1965 to "promote, perpetuate, preserve, and encourage culture and the arts, history and the humanities as central to the quality of life of the ...

, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1987, p. 46 * International Art Society of Hawai'i, ''Kuilima Kākou, Hawai’i-Japan Joint Exhibition'', Honolulu, International Art Society of Hawai'i, 2004, p. 9 * Morse, Marcia, ''Legacy: Facets of Island Modernism'', Honolulu, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2001, , pp. 6, 27-45 * Morse, Marcia (ed.), ''Honolulu Printmakers'', Honolulu, HI, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2003, pp. 21 & 35,
Niiya, Brian, "Isami Doi" in ''Densho Encyclopedia''
* Yoshihara, Lisa A., ''Collective Visions, 1967-1997'', awaiiState Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1997, 54.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doi, Isami 20th-century American painters American male painters Painters from Hawaii 1903 births 1965 deaths Printmakers from Hawaii Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American printmakers American artists of Japanese descent Columbia University alumni 20th-century American male artists