Strawberry Field 

Milt Kobayashi painted "Strawberry Field" using oil on canvas sometime after his birth in 1950. The work offers an image of a woman in a black jacket and patterned dress, surrounded by strawberries. Kobayashi's painting operates within a rich tradition of figurative art. But how does the cultural moment in which he makes his art shape its meaning? And how does he depart from the artistic conventions of the past? The setting could be his studio and the model is perhaps a student or friend. The loose brushwork and the intimate pose of the model are reminiscent of impressionism, but the expression of the model has a contemporary coolness. In this way, it combines traditional and contemporary sensibilities. To truly understand this piece, we might consult exhibition reviews from the time it was first shown, early interviews with the artist, or scholarship on the shifts in art education during this period. Studying these resources helps us understand the dialogue between Kobayashi and the artistic institutions of his time.