Remains of Lunch

Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Remains of Lunch, 1922, pen and ink, brush and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2003.18
Copied Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Remains of Lunch, 1922, pen and ink, brush and ink on paper, 13 7⁄8 x 10 1⁄2 in. (35.2 x 26.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2003.18

Artwork Details

Title
Remains of Lunch
Artist
Date
1922
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
13 7⁄8 x 10 1⁄2 in. (35.2 x 26.7 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
pen and ink, brush and ink on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — fruit — pear
  • Object — tool — screwdriver
  • Object — other — dish
Object Number
2003.18
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2003.18

Artwork Description

Kuniyoshi’s early drawings were often humorous, and his keen wit and interest in visual and verbal puns are evident in Remains of Lunch. This drawing unpretentiously displays the remnants of a light meal, with a demitasse spoon, cigarette butt, dollops of pear sauce, and a fluted, paper pastry cup. The artist’s widow noted that Kuniyoshi loved pears and pear sauce. Here he played with the homonyms “pear” and “pair,” matching birds, leaves, and fruits along the border of the plate. The two pears at the top lean affectionately against each other. The ink field enclosing the composition resembles a stomach in which food is being digested.


The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, 2015

Related Books

KuniyoshiCover_500.jpg
The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi
Painter, photographer, and printmaker Yasuo Kuniyoshi immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1906 and began a journey through New York City, Europe, and Japan that forged his unique painting style. In The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Tom Wolf charts the artist's life and career through sixty-six of the artist's best paintings and drawings. What emerges is a richly complex portrait of an artist navigating the social, cultural, and political challenges of his adopted homeland.