拍品 123
  • 123

LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA | Foujita et Madeleine

估價
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
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招標截止

描述

  • Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita
  • Foujita et Madeleine
  • signed in Japanese, dated Tokio 23 dec 1933 naissance du Prince Héritier and titled (upper right)
  • pen and brush and ink and watercolour on silk
  • height: 38cm., 15in.
  • Executed in Tokyo in 1933.

來源

Private Collection (acquired in Paris by 1970)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Condition

Executed on silk, not laid down and attached to the backing board in places along the upper and lower edges; the silk is cut into the shape of a fan. There is some natural variation in tone consistent with the materials used. This work appears to be in very good original condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

拍品資料及來源

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita met dancer and singer Madeleine Lequeux in Paris in 1930. He was charmed by her vivacious personality, sensuality and striking colouring: piercing blue eyes and golden red hair. Although he typically worked in a monochrome palette – renowned in particular for his chalky white fond blanc ground – Foujita frequently opted to depict Madeleine in colour. Madeleine and Foujita soon afterwards left Paris together to travel around South America, before settling in Tokyo in 1933 and setting up a studio and home in the garden of the artist’s sister. As in Paris, they courted publicity in Tokyo and provided much fodder for gossip columns. Madeleine made a name for herself in Tokyo as an authentic singer of chansons and together they graced the social scene as a radiant celebrity couple - known as much for their respective careers as their tempestuous relationship. When Madeleine suddenly returned to Paris, Foujita reassured journalists: ‘Three years away makes her feel nostalgia for home. The reason marriages between Japanese men and foreign women don’t work out is that the men don’t send the women back home every once in a while’ (quoted in Phyllis Birnbaum, Glory in a Line: A Life of Foujita – the Artist Caught Between East and West, New York, 2007, p. 184). Indeed, Madeleine did return, lured back by the rumour that Foujita had embarked on a new relationship with a local woman. The artist went to meet her on her arriving ship, whereupon local news reported an ensuing theatrical fracas: Madeleine stalked around on deck naked, raging at the artist, pitching cameras at photographers and hurling glasses at the walls (Phyllis Birnbaum, ibid, p. 185). Despite this inauspicious reunion, the artist and Madeleine reconciled and Foujita was known to be devastated when his lover and muse died unexpectedly in 1936.

The present work captures Madeleine’s beauty: her distinctive colouring and hypnotic eyes. She gazes to her right in parallel profile with the cat, alluding to Foujita’s frequent conflation of the respective characters of cats and women: their shared grace, beauty and languor as well as their capriciousness and capacity for spite. The artist himself gazes back knowingly at the viewer, him and us in complicit sympathy, demonstrating Foujita’s skilful ability to convey humour in his portraits while losing none of their sensuousness and delicacy of execution.



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Sylvie Buisson.