A Caucasian man carries an icebox away on his back as a Japanese mother and daughter express their frustration as they watch. In the lower left, a woman, dressed in blue with a white apron, raises her fists above her shoulders and wears a deep frown. A young girl in a white-trimmed red dress stands before the woman wiping her eyes with her right hand and pointing at the man with her left. To the right, a small black dog wearing a red collar barks at the man. In the center foreground, a bearded man bends under the weight of a white icebox he carries in a tan sling on his back as he walks to the street on the right. He is dressed in blue rolled shirtsleeves, dark pants, grey belt and black cap. His lower face is obscured by his hands which grip the sling at his chin. They stand on the front lawn of a tan-trimmed grey house with a lime-green mailbox visible in the background. "NO JAPS WANTED" is painted in white under the front window. The street on the right recedes into the background past a white picketed house with a brown roof at top right. A blue truck is parked at the curb with an icebox, potted bonsai and a green object with a circular pattern in the truck bed. "L.A. Junk Shop" is printed on the tailgate.

Inscription
Signed in medium, bottom right corner: H. Sugimoto Written on back, top center: Documentary / Junkshop Man Took Away / Our Icebox / by Henry Sugimoto ; Right center: 32 1/4 x 23 1/2 Label on frame back, upper right edge: Artist Henry Sugimoto / Title-Am I American citizen / Size

painting
H: 23.25 in, W: 32 in, Frame: 25.25 x 34.25 x .75 in
canvas
oil

Denson, Ark., ca. 1942
(92.97.89)
Gift of Madeleine Sugimoto and Naomi Tagawa, Japanese American National Museum
Henry Sugimoto Collection

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