Miye Matsukata

Miyé Matsukata was born into a prominent Japanese family interested in Western traditions. Her grandfather was prime minister of Japan, and her uncle founded the Matsukata Collection of Western Art, which introduced European impressionism to Asia. From 1940 to 1944, a difficult time for Japanese people in America, Miyé blossomed at Principia College in Illinois. In 1950 she went to Scandinavia on a scholarship, where, she later admitted, she “tried to capture the Viking spirit” in her work.