Having graduated from the Tokyo Fine Arts School and set out to become a painter, Foujita moved to Paris in 1913 at the age of 26 to pursue his dream. At the time young artists had gathered in the city from all over Europe, creating a lively artistic ferment. With an innate sociability, Foujita jumped in headlong and was inspired eventually to create his own unique style of painting. By 1921, his pictures of nudes and cats painted in ink with fine menso calligraphy brushes on pearl-white backgrounds were being praised for their “wonderful milky white.” This painting is typical of the period. During his lifetime, Foujita kept his techniques for making his white ground a secret, but recent research shows that baby powder and white paint were mixed to obtain the unique texture.
(UCHIYAMA Junko)
Having graduated from the Tokyo Fine Arts School and set out to become a painter, Foujita moved to Paris in 1913 at the age of 26 to pursue his dream. At the time young artists had gathered in the city from all over Europe, creating a lively artistic ferment. With an innate sociability, Foujita jumped in headlong and was inspired eventually to create his own unique style of painting. By 1921, his pictures of nudes and cats painted in ink with fine menso calligraphy brushes on pearl-white backgrounds were being praised for their “wonderful milky white.” This painting is typical of the period. During his lifetime, Foujita kept his techniques for making his white ground a secret, but recent research shows that baby powder and white paint were mixed to obtain the unique texture.
(UCHIYAMA Junko)