Tsuguharu Foujita
Encyclopedia
was a painter and printmaker born in Tokyo, Japan who applied Japanese ink techniques to Western style paintings.
.
in Paris
, France
. When he arrived there, knowing nobody, he met Amedeo Modigliani
, Pascin
, Chaim Soutine
, and Fernand Léger
and became friends with Juan Gris
, Pablo Picasso
and Henri Matisse
. Foujita claimed in his memoir that he met Picasso less than a week after his arrival, but a recent biographer, relying on letters Foujita sent to his first wife in Japan, clearly shows that it was several months until he met Picasso. He also took dance lessons from the legendary Isadora Duncan
.
Foujita had his first studio at no. 5 rue Delambre in Montparnasse where he became the envy of everyone when he eventually made enough money to install a bathtub with hot running water. Many models came over to Foujita's place to enjoy this luxury, among them Man Ray's
very liberated lover, Kiki
, who boldly posed for Foujita in the nude in the outdoor courtyard. Another portrait of Kiki titled "Reclining Nude with Toile de Jouy," shows her lying naked against an ivory-white background. It was the sensation of Paris at the Salon d'Automne in 1922, selling for more than 8,000 francs.
His life in Montparnasse
is documented in several of his works, including the etching A la Rotonde or Café de la Rotonde
of 1925/7, part of the Tableaux de Paris series published in 1929.
In March 1917 in the Café de la Rotonde
, Foujita met a young lady by the name of Fernande Barrey. At first, she totally ignored Foujita's efforts to engage her in conversation. However, early the next morning, Foujita showed up at Fernande's place with a blue corsage
he had made overnight. Intrigued, she offered him a pot of tea and they were married 13 days later.
Within a few years, particularly after his 1918 exposition, he achieved great fame as a painter of beautiful women and cats in a very original technique. He is one of the few Montparnasse artists who made a great deal of money in his early years. By 1925, Tsuguharu Foujita had received the Belgian
Order of Leopold and the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor
.
In 1918, a trip to the south of France was organized by the Polish poet Léopold Zborowski
, who had the idea that his artist-friends could sell pictures there to rich tourists. Foujita and his wife went along as did Soutine, Modigliani with his lover, Jeanne Hébuterne
. The trip was not, however, a success and the group had to survive on the advances that Foujita had obtained from his Paris dealer. By the time the final reckoning arrived even those funds had run out, and their landlord, ignoring the offers of pieces of art, confiscated all their baggage in lieu of payment.
In 1921, he became involved with Lucie Badoul, whom he called Youki, or "Rose Snow". She would become his third wife. The relationship ended when she became the lover, then the wife of the surrealist poet Robert Desnos
.
in 1931 (with his new love, Mady), Foujita traveled and painted all over Latin America
, giving hugely successful exhibitions along the way. In Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, 60,000 people attended his exhibition, and more than 10,000 queued up for his autograph. In 1932 he contributed a work to the Pax Mundi, a large folio book produced by the League of Nations
calling for a prolonged world peace. However, by 1933 he was welcomed back as a minor celebrity to Japan where he stayed and became a noted producer of militaristic propaganda during the war. For example, in 1938 the Imperial Navy Information Office supported his visit to China as an official war artist.
Fujita left Japan after the war. Today, his works can be found in the Bridgestone Museum of Art and in the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Tokyo
, and more than 100 in the Hirano Masakichi Art Museum in Akita.
. He was baptised in Reims
cathedral on 14 October 1959, with René Lalou (the head of the Mumm
champagne house) as his godfather and Françoise Taittinger as his godmother. This is reflected in his last major work,at the age of 80, the design, building and decoration of the Foujita chapel
in the gardens of the Mumm
champagne house in Reims, France
, which he completed in 1966, not long before his death.
Tsuguharu Foujita died of cancer
on January 29, 1968 in Zürich
, Switzerland
and was interred in the Cimetière de Villiers-Le-Bacle
, Essonne département
, France
. In 2003, his coffin was reinterred at the Foujita chapel
under the flagstones in the position he originally intended when constructing the chapel.
Education
In 1910 when he was twenty-four years old Foujita graduated from what is now the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and MusicTokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...
.
Paris
Three years later he went to MontparnasseMontparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. When he arrived there, knowing nobody, he met Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
, Pascin
Pascin
Julius Mordecai Pincas, known as Pascin, Jules Pascin, or the "Prince of Montparnasse", was born in Bulgaria to parents of four ethnicities. During World War I, he worked in the United States. He is best known as a painter in Paris, where he was strongly identified with the Modernist movement and...
, Chaim Soutine
Chaim Soutine
Chaïm Soutine was a Jewish painter from Belarus. Soutine made a major contribution to the expressionist movement while living in Paris....
, and Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
and became friends with Juan Gris
Juan Gris
José Victoriano González-Pérez , better known as Juan Gris, was a Spanish painter and sculptor who lived and worked in France most of his life...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
. Foujita claimed in his memoir that he met Picasso less than a week after his arrival, but a recent biographer, relying on letters Foujita sent to his first wife in Japan, clearly shows that it was several months until he met Picasso. He also took dance lessons from the legendary Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life...
.
Foujita had his first studio at no. 5 rue Delambre in Montparnasse where he became the envy of everyone when he eventually made enough money to install a bathtub with hot running water. Many models came over to Foujita's place to enjoy this luxury, among them Man Ray's
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
very liberated lover, Kiki
Alice Prin
Alice Ernestine Prin , nicknamed Queen of Montparnasse, and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse, was a French artist model, nightclub singer, actress, memoirist, and painter. She flourished in, and helped define, the liberated, early 1920s culture of Paris.- Early life :Alice Prin was born in...
, who boldly posed for Foujita in the nude in the outdoor courtyard. Another portrait of Kiki titled "Reclining Nude with Toile de Jouy," shows her lying naked against an ivory-white background. It was the sensation of Paris at the Salon d'Automne in 1922, selling for more than 8,000 francs.
His life in Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
is documented in several of his works, including the etching A la Rotonde or Café de la Rotonde
Café de la Rotonde
The Café de la Rotonde is a famous café in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Located on the Carrefour Vavin, at the corner of Boulevard du Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail, it was founded by Victor Libion in 1910...
of 1925/7, part of the Tableaux de Paris series published in 1929.
Marriage
Foujita's first marriage was in Japan whilst still a student. After travelling to Paris to pursue his art, a quiet divorce was arranged.In March 1917 in the Café de la Rotonde
Café de la Rotonde
The Café de la Rotonde is a famous café in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Located on the Carrefour Vavin, at the corner of Boulevard du Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail, it was founded by Victor Libion in 1910...
, Foujita met a young lady by the name of Fernande Barrey. At first, she totally ignored Foujita's efforts to engage her in conversation. However, early the next morning, Foujita showed up at Fernande's place with a blue corsage
Corsage
Corsage refers to a bouquet of flowers worn on a woman's dress or worn around her wrist.* Corsages are often worn by the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom at a wedding ceremony in some countries....
he had made overnight. Intrigued, she offered him a pot of tea and they were married 13 days later.
Within a few years, particularly after his 1918 exposition, he achieved great fame as a painter of beautiful women and cats in a very original technique. He is one of the few Montparnasse artists who made a great deal of money in his early years. By 1925, Tsuguharu Foujita had received the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Order of Leopold and the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
In 1918, a trip to the south of France was organized by the Polish poet Léopold Zborowski
Leopold Zborowski
Leopold Zborowski was a Polish poet, writer and art dealer.Zborowski and his wife Anna were contemporaries with Parisian artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Cézanne, André Derain and Amedeo Modigliani, who painted their portraits.Leopold Zborowski was Amedeo Modigliani's primary art...
, who had the idea that his artist-friends could sell pictures there to rich tourists. Foujita and his wife went along as did Soutine, Modigliani with his lover, Jeanne Hébuterne
Jeanne Hébuterne
Jeanne Hébuterne was a French artist, best known as the frequent subject and common-law wife of the artist Amedeo Modigliani.- Early life :...
. The trip was not, however, a success and the group had to survive on the advances that Foujita had obtained from his Paris dealer. By the time the final reckoning arrived even those funds had run out, and their landlord, ignoring the offers of pieces of art, confiscated all their baggage in lieu of payment.
In 1921, he became involved with Lucie Badoul, whom he called Youki, or "Rose Snow". She would become his third wife. The relationship ended when she became the lover, then the wife of the surrealist poet Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos , was a French surrealist poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day.- Biography :...
.
Latin America and Japan
After the breakup of his third marriage, and his flight to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
in 1931 (with his new love, Mady), Foujita traveled and painted all over Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, giving hugely successful exhibitions along the way. In Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, 60,000 people attended his exhibition, and more than 10,000 queued up for his autograph. In 1932 he contributed a work to the Pax Mundi, a large folio book produced by the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
calling for a prolonged world peace. However, by 1933 he was welcomed back as a minor celebrity to Japan where he stayed and became a noted producer of militaristic propaganda during the war. For example, in 1938 the Imperial Navy Information Office supported his visit to China as an official war artist.
Fujita left Japan after the war. Today, his works can be found in the Bridgestone Museum of Art and in the Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
The is a contemporary art museum in Tokyo, Japan. The museum is located in Kiba Park. It was opened in 1995.- Prominent exhibits :*Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol *Girl with Hair Ribbon by Roy Lichtenstein -External links:* website...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, and more than 100 in the Hirano Masakichi Art Museum in Akita.
Last work
On his return to France, Foujita converted to CatholicismCatholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. He was baptised in Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
cathedral on 14 October 1959, with René Lalou (the head of the Mumm
Mumm
G. H. Mumm & Cie, situated in Reims in northern France, is one of the largest Champagne producers worldwide.- History :It was founded by three brothers, Jacobus, Gottlieb and Phillip Mumm, German winemakers from the Rhine valley and G. Heuser and Friedrich Giesler on March 1, 1827 as P. A. Mumm...
champagne house) as his godfather and Françoise Taittinger as his godmother. This is reflected in his last major work,at the age of 80, the design, building and decoration of the Foujita chapel
Foujita chapel
The chapel of Our Lady Queen of Peace, or Foujita Chapel, was constructed in 1965-1966 at Reims, France. The chapel was conceived and designed by the artist Tsuguharu Foujita, and is famous for the frescos he painted in the interiors...
in the gardens of the Mumm
Mumm
G. H. Mumm & Cie, situated in Reims in northern France, is one of the largest Champagne producers worldwide.- History :It was founded by three brothers, Jacobus, Gottlieb and Phillip Mumm, German winemakers from the Rhine valley and G. Heuser and Friedrich Giesler on March 1, 1827 as P. A. Mumm...
champagne house in Reims, France
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, which he completed in 1966, not long before his death.
Tsuguharu Foujita died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on January 29, 1968 in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and was interred in the Cimetière de Villiers-Le-Bacle
Villiers-le-Bâcle
Villiers-le-Bâcle is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Villiers-le-Bâcle are known as Villebaclais.-References:** -External links:* * *...
, Essonne département
Essonne
Essonne is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.- History :...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In 2003, his coffin was reinterred at the Foujita chapel
Foujita chapel
The chapel of Our Lady Queen of Peace, or Foujita Chapel, was constructed in 1965-1966 at Reims, France. The chapel was conceived and designed by the artist Tsuguharu Foujita, and is famous for the frescos he painted in the interiors...
under the flagstones in the position he originally intended when constructing the chapel.