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Julie Otsuka

Object Details

Exhibition Label
Born Palo Alto, California
Prize-winning writer Julie Otsuka posed for Philip Grausman when she was an undergraduate at Yale University and Grausman was on the faculty. Memories of growing up in California and hearing stories of her grandfather’s arrest after Pearl Harbor and the subsequent internment of her grandmother, uncle, and mother led Otsuka to write novels charting the experience of Japanese Americans. She has commented on the link between the “visual” characters that populate her novels and her training as an artist. Grausman’s graceful lines and delicate modeling capture a contemplative view of Otsuka, who describes her writing as “deeply internal.”
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Artist
Philip Grausman, born 16 Jul 1935
Sitter
Julie Otsuka, born 15 May 1962
Date
1986
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist
Medium
Pewter
Dimensions
Without Base: 32.4 x 16.2 x 23.8cm (12 3/4 x 6 3/8 x 9 3/8")
Type
Sculpture

Featured In

  • American Women Writers—and Readers
  • Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage in the Collections
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