TSUGUHARU FOUJITA | Femme cubiste

Private Collection (acquired in Paris in the 1920s)

Private Collection, South America (by descent from the above and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 6, 2009, lot 190)

Acquired at the above sale

After studying Western Painting at Tokyo's School of Fine Arts in 1905, Foujita, eager to travel to Europe, gravitated toward the vibrancy of the artistic mecca of Paris in the early years of the twentieth century. Arriving in the French capital in 1913, Foujita set up his first studio at No. 5 rue Delambre in Montparnasse. The young artist was quickly ensconced in the artistic milieu of the dynamic cultural community of the neighborhood, befriending artists such as Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Henri Matisse and Chaïm Soutine. During Foujita's first residency in France, between 1913 and 1929, these key figures impressed upon the artist the expressive possibilities of the human form. Emboldened by the radical approaches of his Parisian colleagues, Foujita embraced the Cubist idiom soon after his arrival to the city. The influence of Cubism, particularly Léger's famed Contraste de formes series and Picasso’s early Cubist portraits of Fernande Olivier, is evident in the faceted and multi-perspectival composition of Femme cubiste. The multiple renditions of the figure’s hands and face add a kaleidoscopic, mesmerizing effect, hinting at the influence of the energetic and dynamic compositions of the Futurists. As many of the artist of the École de Paris would, Foujita went on to develop his own unique style. His paintings in the 1920s and 30s drew on both traditions of Japanese painting and avant-garde influences to create a daring new style of expression, cementing his reputation as a leading member of the École de Paris.



This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné by Sylvie Buisson.