Isami Doi

Isami Doi was a second generation Japanese American, born to immigrant parents who ran a general store on the island of Kauaʻi. His artistic training began at the University of Hawaiʻi (1921-23) but more significantly took shape in New York City (1923-38). There, Doi developed his painting and printmaking practices under Albert Heckman at Columbia College, Winold Reiss a t his school in Greenwich Village, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. He also garnered the support and representation of dealer Edith Halpert, founder of the Downtown Gallery, New York. After an extended trip to Paris, France (1930), as well as a score of successful exhibitions held between New York, California, Hawaiʻi, and Tokyo in the early 1930s, Doi took up illustration work for children’s books, employment by the Federal Art Project, and jewelry making during the Depression and WWII. From 1950 and onward, Doi became a mentor to a younger generation of Japanese American artists from Hawaiʻi, such as Satoru Abe and Tadashi Sato, leaving a legacy of modernist art in his home state.

Authored by Anna Lee, curatorial assistant for Asian American art, 2025.