Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita

LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA (Tokyo, 1886 - Zurich, 1968).
"Hotel", 1964 and "The Dove", 1963.
Woodcuts on paper.
Hand signed.
Measurements: 14,5 x 11 cm; 19,5 x 16 cm (frame); 13 x 9 cm; 19 x 14 cm (frame).
Tsuguharu Foujita, a French nationalized Japanese painter, was one of the most singular figures of the School of Paris. Trained at the National University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, he settled in Paris in 1913, where he developed his own artistic language that integrated Japanese tradition, especially the value of line and ink, with Western modernity. Influenced by Gauguin and symbolism, he prioritized drawing over volume, dispensing with illusionism and resorting to stylized silhouettes, flat shadows and simplified reliefs.
He never abandoned figuration and reinterpreted the classic genres of portraiture, nudes and landscapes. In the field of graphic work, Foujita stood out for his mastery in drawing, engraving and illustration, media in which the precision of the stroke, the economy of means and the influence of calligraphy and Chinese ink are particularly evident. His graphic production constitutes a fundamental pillar of his work, allowing him to explore with greater purity the line and contrast, central elements of his aesthetics.
His career and his work bridged the gap between East and West, consolidating him as a cosmopolitan artist whose production is today represented in important international museums.