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Foujita: nudes and cats

Cette semaine, laissez-vous séduire par le sublime trait de Foujita [En savoir plus]

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886–1968), a friend of Modigliani and Picasso, made women and cats his favorite subjects. This week, let yourself be seduced by the sublime features of this essential artist of the Roaring Twenties.

The prodigy of the line

In the Lying Nude , Foujita represented a woman lying on her back, her legs bent to the side. We find there the very essence of the artist's work with the so particular treatment of the skin left in reserve, the swaying line, the emphasis on the hair and the modeling which then bring out the whiteness of the skin. of his models. This original aquatint print is enhanced with white watercolor. It has been published in 100 copies and 10 artist proofs, so this makes it a rather rare print. Justified EA VI (artist's proof 6), it is also referenced in the catalog raisonné Buisson # 30.57 (volume II, page 513).

Tsuguharu FOUJITA (1886-1968)
Reclining Nude , 1930
Original etching in aquatint, heightened with white watercolor

The primary characteristic of his works remains undoubtedly the delicacy of his line. The latter, recognizable among a thousand, precise and sensual is inherited from his apprenticeship. Between classicism and modernity, Foujita proceeds to an unprecedented synthesis of the Japanese calligraphic tradition and its Western heritage. Admiring the great masters: Vinci, Titien, Manet, Foujita frees himself from the codes of these artists to offer a very personal vision of the female nude.

" I believe that the felines were given to men so that they could learn from women with them ".

Tsuguharu FOUJITA
Cat with a bell , 1924
Original etching (etching on a heliogravure background)

These two themes are tirelessly taken up by the Japanese painter who in the 1920s was one of the most popular artists of the School of Paris.

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita's works market

The large oils on canvas depicting nudes are undoubtedly the artist's most sought-after works. Regularly, Foujita represented a nude and a cat in the same work. One of the artist's records is held by a large painting titled Nu au chat which was awarded over 3.5 million euros. The artist's drawings can also fetch significant prices. Certain engravings and lithographs featuring nudes are particularly sought after. More accessible than oils or drawings, the prices of prints vary between 3,500 and 15,000 € and can sometimes reach more than 100,000 € for complete series.

If Foujita's nudes fascinate you, the Faure museum (Aix-les-Bains) invites you to discover the Foujita exhibition: nudes from the 1920s until October 31.

Biography

Born in Tokyo in 1886, Tsugouharu Foujita or Tsuguharu Fujita, is a complete artist (painter, designer, engraver, illustrator, ceramist, photographer, filmmaker, fashion designer ...) of international renown. When he arrived in Montparnasse in 1913, the cubist compositions and paintings by Douanier Rousseau from Picasso's studio pushed him to integrate the avant-garde of modern art. Foujita becomes one of the most important members of the School of Paris. He befriends Modigliani, Pascin, Moïse Kisling, Chana Orloff, Soutine, Derain, Vlaminck, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Matisse ...

His first personal exhibition in June 1917 was a triumph; he exhibits 110 watercolors in a half Japanese, half Gothic genre. It is from all the painting salons in Paris, Brussels, Germany, the United States and Japan. He enjoyed a triumph during the Roaring Twenties in Montparnasse: His paintings of women, children and cats entered the largest collections.

In 1955, he obtained French nationality. He converted to Catholicism 4 years later and took the name Leonardo. In 1964, he decided with René Lalou to build and decorate the Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix chapel (Foujita chapel) in Reims. Léonard Foujita died in 1968 in Zurich.

Notre sélection d'oeuvres de Foujita