(Tokyo 1886–1968 Zurich)
Le bouquet de roses, 1919, signed T. Foujita, signed in Japanese, oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm, (PP)

Photo certificate:
Sylvie Buisson, Paris, 15. 12.2014
The work will be included in Vol. 4 of the catalog raisonné, which is currently being compiled by Sylvie and Dominique Buisson.

Provenance:
Estate of Arturo Bustamante (former Ambassador to France from El Salvador)
Private Collection, USA

His name in Japanese means ‘field of wisteria, heir to peace.’ In the 1920s—known as Fou-Fou or Mad-Mad—he was the most famous and the most eccentric artist in Montparnasse. He had a haircut modeled on an Egyptian statue and a wristwatch tattoo around his wrist. He wore earrings, a Greek-style tunic, a ‘Babylonian’ necklace, and on occasion a lampshade instead of a hat. (He claimed it was his national headdress.) (Jo Durden-Smith: Lost Art, on: departures.com) The present work was painted a few years after Foujita arrived in Paris and decided to launch himself into the Parisian art scene and embrace this new culture. However, neither the composition nor the subject completely distance themselves from Japanese painting tradition. Representations of nature, especially in its domesticated form, were very popular in the art of ukiyo-e („pictures of the floating world“), a movement that has its origins in the urbanising Edo period (1603–1867). Ukiyo-e was closely associated with urban pleasures, such as theatres, restaurants, teahouses, geisha and courtesans, whilst also being animated by a traditionally Japanese love of nature. As a result, despite plunging himself into Western painting tradition and iconography, Foujita does not entirely forsake his cultural heritage.