Léonard FOUJITA

Biography

Léonard Tsugouharu Foujita, Franco-Japanese painter and engraver, was born on November 27, 1886 in Tokyo.

He went at the Imperial School of Fine Arts and quickly became successful, receiving orders from the emperors of Korea and Japan.

In 1913, he went to Paris, befriended the great painters of the time, such as Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Henri Matisse, Henri Rousseau and Chaïm Soutine. He had a very close friendship with the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani.

Known for his eccentric personality, Foujita develops a particular style with his well-designed hair, earrings and glasses. Beyond the public image, Foujita takes his work very seriously and develops a penchant for white and pale shades such as lavender and gray. He finds a balance between Japanese art and European art and is regularly inspired by women and cats.

After the failure of his third marriage, Foujita leaves Paris to join Latin America, spends time in Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and Argentina before finally returning to Japan where he lived during the Second World War. After the war, Foujita left Japan again and settled in France, of which he became a citizen in 1955.

Then Foujita converted to Catholicism and decorated the cathedral of Reims. Foujita adopts the Christian name of Leonardo in homage to Leonardo da Vinci.

He died on January 29, 1968 in Zurich and was buried in Reims.

Today, his works are available in many public and private collections around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the MoMA in New York and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Argentina.