28

Taizo Kato

1894–1924

Portrait of the actress Tsuru Aoki (1892-1961). 1923.

Silver print
With Kato's signature and date in ink on print recto.
The image 10 3/8 x 6 1/2 in. (26.4 x 16.5 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    A Country Called California: The Collection of Stephen White
  • Literature:
    Stephen White, foreword by Lynell George, A Country Called California, Photographs 1850s to 1960s (Angel City Press, 2022), p. 94
  • Notes:
    A star of the silent film era, Tsuru Aoki was one of the first Japanese actresses on film and likely the first to become a star in Hollywood. Although her husband Sessue Hayakawa achieved international stardom, Aoki was also a significant actress in her own right and a veteran performer who entered motion pictures before Hayakawa. Aoki worked on films produced by major silent era companies, often starring opposite her husband, and altogether appearing in about 40 films.

    Taizo Kato owned and ran The Korin, a space that included a camera store, a film processing lab, and a gallery where photography was presented alongside ceramics and painting. Kato, who emigrated from Japan in 1906 at age 19, was a member of the artistic group Shaku-do-sha which developed close ties and shared collaborative influence with Edward Weston, presenting his work throughout the 1920s. Kato's early death in 1924 meant that he never saw the full realization of his influence: the formation in 1926 of the Japanese Camera Pictorialists of California, a group of photographers based in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo neighborhood.
  • Condition: For condition reports, email Deborah Rogal at [email protected]

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February 12, 2026 12:00 PM EST
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