Foxhole

Copied John Matsudaira, Foxhole, 1953?, oil on board, 15 3⁄4 × 27 1⁄4 in. (40.0 × 69.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Vincent Matsudaira, 2023.10

Artwork Details

Title
Foxhole
Artist
Date
1953?
Location
Dimensions
15 3⁄4 × 27 1⁄4 in. (40.0 × 69.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Vincent Matsudaira
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on board
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape
  • Figure male — full length
  • Occupation — military — soldier
Object Number
2023.10
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2023.10

Artwork Description

This self-portrait shows the artist as a young soldier nestled in a womblike foxhole, seemingly suspended between death and rebirth. John Matsudaira volunteered for the US Army after he and his family, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, were removed from their homes along the West Coast and put in government detention camps during World War II. Assigned to the 442nd Infantry Regiment- a unit composed mostly of Nisei, or second-generation Japanese Americans-Matsudaira served in combat in Italy, where he was seriously injured in 1944.  
Created years later, Foxhole conveys both trauma and resilience. Matsudaira likened making the painting to a kind of exorcism: "Sometime after I returned to Seattle, I painted a soldier sleeping in a foxhole. It was John Matsudaira. A farewell. With that painting, I decided to wipe away the past."