Born in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. After traveling around the world with his brother, a furniture dealer, he arrived in London in 1917, where he was commissioned to decorate furniture in the East Asian style. On his way back to Japan, he stopped in New York, fell in love with the area, and settled there.

Usui exhibited at the Society of Independent Artists from 1924 to 1931, and at the Salons of America from 1924 to 1926 and 1928 to 1932, and 1934. He also exhibited at the exhibition of the Gacho Kai in 1922, and at the exhibition of Japanese Art, sponsored by New York Shimpo in 1927, 1935 and 1936, and at Paintings by New York Chinese- Japanese Artists in 1937, He had a solo exhibition at the Rural Gallery in 1947. In 1977, he exhibited in Half Century of Japanese Artists in New York, 1910′-1950′ at the Azuma Gallery, and had a retrospective exhibition at the Salander Gallery in 1979.

In addition to his art activities, Usui also produced frames and was a reputed frame maker among artists including Kuniyoshi Yasuo. In later years, he was also known as a collector of swords. He died in New York in 1994.

Reference: Half Century of Japanese Artists in New York, 1910′-1950′, (exhibition catalogue), Azuma Gallery(1977); Fuji Television Gallery, Usui Bumpei, (exhibition catalogue), Fuji Television Gallery (1983); Postwar 50th Anniversary Project: Japanese American Artists in America: Half Century of Hope and Suffering, 1896-1945, (exhibition catalogue), Nippon Television Network Corporation (1995).

The subject of this entry was featured in one of our digital exhibits, “Japanese Artists During the Prewar Period in New York City- Artistic Trace from the 1910s to the 1940s –”.