Kuniyoshi, Yasuo (1893-1953), American painter, born in Okayama, Japan. He went to the United States in 1906 and studied in Los Angeles and at the Art Students League in New York City. Kuniyoshi's early paintings were marked by somber black and gray hues, severely stylized forms, and traces of Oriental tonalities.

Subsequently he established himself as one of the most popular artists of the U.S. with a series of still-life paintings of early American objects such as weather vanes and old crockery. In his arrangement of these motifs Kuniyoshi imparted an exotic flavor to his commonplace subject matter.

He was also known for large studies of nudes and of female circus performers, such as Amazing Juggler (1952, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa), depicting a grotesquely masked woman juggler on a bicycle.