Moonlight
George Matsusaburo Hibi
GEORGE MATSUSABURO HIBI, 1945. WOODCUT ON PAPER.
In 1942, after more than 30 years living in the United States and working as an artist in a burgeoning Californian scene, George Matsusaburo Hibi was interned in an American concentration camp under the order of FDR. Hibi was not threat to America, but he was not a naturalised citizen and so, as tensions between USA and Japan were rising, he became one of thousands of victims of Order 9066. At the age of 20, inspired by Cezanne, Hibi had given up his legal studies in Japan and moved to the American west coast where he successfully pursued an artistic career. He showed across California, organising shows at the SF Museum of Art and setting up a society of East Asian artists living on the West Coast. Hibi was dedicated to the power of art as a unifying force, and even during his time in the internment camps, he set up art schools and organised exhibitions and classes. In 1940, when the threat of war was imminent, he began to donate paintings to community venues across California. ‘There is no boundary in art.’, he said, ‘This is the only way I can show my appreciation to my many American friends here.’