Fumio Yoshimura, 76, Sculptor of Everyday
Fumio Yoshimura, a sculptor known for his highly
detailed wooden replicas of plants, machines and a variety of everyday
objects, died on July 23 in Manhattan, where he lived. He was 76.The cause was complications from pancreatic cancer, his wife, Carol, said.
Mr. Yoshimura, who was born in Japan and came to New York in his mid-30's, worked in white, unfinished linden wood that gave his nearly exact renderings of tomato plants, typewriters, bicycles, kites and sewing machines a ghostly pallor. Though he never depicted people in his work, human activities are often implied in objects like an apple peeler that contains a half-skinned piece of fruit.
Mr. Yoshimura studied painting at the Tokyo University of Arts, but while in New York he taught himself wood sculpture, using a variety of knives, chisels and drills. He was known for his painstaking technique; his most elaborate works, like a full-size hot dog cart, often took months to complete.
Mr. Yoshimura, who was born in Japan and came to New York in his mid-30's, worked in white, unfinished linden wood that gave his nearly exact renderings of tomato plants, typewriters, bicycles, kites and sewing machines a ghostly pallor. Though he never depicted people in his work, human activities are often implied in objects like an apple peeler that contains a half-skinned piece of fruit.
Mr. Yoshimura studied painting at the Tokyo University of Arts, but while in New York he taught himself wood sculpture, using a variety of knives, chisels and drills. He was known for his painstaking technique; his most elaborate works, like a full-size hot dog cart, often took months to complete.
Mr. Yoshimura's work is in the collections of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Hood Museum
of Art at Dartmouth College, where he taught as an adjunct professor for
11 years.
Mr. Yoshimura's first wife, Yoshiko, died. His marriage to the writer Kate Millett (who dedicated her book ''Sexual Politics'' to him) ended in divorce.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Sadako Iwaya, and a brother, Rikio Yoshimura, both of Tokyo; and a stepson, Obadiah Watkinson, of Brooklyn.
Mr. Yoshimura's first wife, Yoshiko, died. His marriage to the writer Kate Millett (who dedicated her book ''Sexual Politics'' to him) ended in divorce.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Sadako Iwaya, and a brother, Rikio Yoshimura, both of Tokyo; and a stepson, Obadiah Watkinson, of Brooklyn.
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