The Golden Years of Foujita
An exhibition dedicated to the French period of this artist, a member of the School of Paris, was held at the Musée Maillol in Paris in 2018.
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, ‘Portrait’, 1928, oil and gouache on canvas, Paris, Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre de création industrielle © Fondation Foujita / Adagp, Paris, 2018 - Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jacqueline Hyde
Tsugouhara Foujita illuminated his era. This Japanese (naturalised French) dandy drew on his Eastern roots to compete with the Western masters. The exhibition, held in 2018 at the Musée Maillol, gathered over 100 of the artist’s works created during his Parisian period, between 1913 and 1931.
Calligraphy, gouache, and watercolours
They recalled in passing his favourite themes: women, children, animals, and himself (for visitors to rank in order of importance) and his desire to forge connections between France and Japan. Tsugouharu Foujita, who was close to Modigliani and Soutine, with whom he lived in the heart of the Cité Falguière in Montparnasse, is known for his unique technique of fine calligraphic lines, painted with gouache and watercolours.
Foujita, peindre dans les années folles (2018), was an exhibition held at Musée Maillol in Paris.
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, ‘Femme allongée, Youki’, 1923, oil on canvas, private collection © Fondation Foujita / Adagp, Paris, 2018 Photo : © Archives artistiques
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, ‘Chiens savants’, 1922, oil on canvas, private collection © Fondation Foujita / Adagp, Paris, 2018 Photo : © Archives artistiques
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, ‘Petite fille au capuchon’, 1929, oil on canvas, private collection © Fondation Foujita / Adagp, Paris, 2017
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, ‘Combat I’, 1928, oil on canvas, 299.7 x 301.6 x 4.7 cm, Maison-atelier Foujita, Conseil Départemental d’Essonne, Evry France, by Laurence Godart © Fondation Foujita / Adagp, Paris, 2018 © Maisonatelier Foujita. CD Essonne
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