Commissioned in 1942, this marvelous militaristic gouache on heavy artist's board is visually one of the most striking in the collection. Likely created for a proposed TIME magazine cover, it shows the head of the prestigious Imperial Naval Academy of the 1930s. Niimi was responsible for development of Japan's naval leadership and China operations command during WWII. He outlived Japan's entire gropu Pearl Harbor naval commanders. The piece itself is 10x11.5", archivally matted to 16.75x17.75" overall.