Tsuguharu Foujita

Private Collection, South America
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, November 8, 2007, lot 409
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

There are creases upper right and lower right corners, along the top edge – left, and at the lower left. Small handling creases are found throughout the work. The pigment is strong and unabraded, there are no tears or paper losses. There are what appears to be a few specks of foreign matter to the right of the figure’s face. Otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Of the ex-patriot artists working in pre-War Europe during the 1920s and '30s, Foujita's oeuvre is unique.  After studying Western Painting at Tokyo's School of Fine Arts in 1905, the young artist was urged by his father to remain in Japan until he at least finished his artistic training.  However, in 1913, Foujita burst onto the scene in Paris, the artistic Mecca for all artists working at that time.  After meeting Picasso, Modigliani, Soutine and other titans of his milieu, Foujita made a conscientious decision to embark on creating his own artistic style and abandoned the influences of those painters.  In 1917 he held his first one-person show at the Galerie Cheron and it was then that Foujita became known to the art world.  The exhibited works were not oils, but watercolors that employed the traditional Japanese media:  fine watercolor brushes, Japanese inkstone, and sumi ink  (Leonard Foujita, (exhibition catalogue) Masaaki Ozaki, 'On Tsuguharu Foujita,' National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 2006, p. 188). 

Through trial and error, Foujita's technique improved, becoming increasingly fluid and distinguished.  "It was at the Salon d'Automne held in 1921 that Foujita established himself significantly in the Parisian art world.  The three works he submitted were acclaimed as the highlight of the exhibition and proved extremely popular.  In particular, the beautiful white ground supporting the overall image was an expression only Foujita could accomplish employing a technique of his own" (op. cit., p. 188).  (see fig. 1)

After working more than a decade in Paris, Foujita enjoyed a favorable reputation and, consequently, received an increasing number of mural and portrait commissions.  In the early 1930s, though, Foujita's trademark white ground and soft tones that he developed to silhouette and define his figures, gave way to a richer palette of colors.  It is quite possible that Foujita's Latin American sojourn (1932-34) was the catalyst that helped change his artistic style. The artist was exposed to the heroic paintings of the Brazilian, Argentine and Mexican modernists, where the use of exaggerated proportions and their social message had a direct impact on him. 

Self-portraiture and Foujita are synonymous in his oeuvre and as early as 1921, Foujita's distinctive bangs begin to populate his canvases.  The present lot magnificently displays the painter's acknowledgement of his trade.  Foujita's easel, calipers, ink block and brushes are but a few of the depicted attributes of his trade which proudly denote an artist who has settled in his career. 

Fig. 1 Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Petite fille à la tresse, 1929, oil on canvas, Private Collection, France

Fig. 2 Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita in an undated photograph, probably taken circa 1927.