Léonard Foujita

The Lewis Caroll of painting. This is how Jean Cocteau used to call Master Léonard Foujita Tsuguharu, referring to the naive side of some of his works. He is one of the most famous artists of the Roaring Twenties (1920-1929), both in style and by his sense of fun and his friendships with leading artists of the time, such as Picasso, Derain, Apollinaire, Modigliani, Soutine, Van Dongen, Chagall, Pascin, Zadkine and in general with all the artists who were part of the School of Paris at its beginnings.

He was a master of the brush stroke: influenced by Michelangelo, Poussin and Rodin, Tsuguharu Fujita is successful with his personal style, his shiny white backs that catch the light and the subtle contours in black ink of his subjects. Steeped in European modernity, he will retain a sober and Eastern accuracy, combining "the rigor of Japanese relating to freedom of Matisse," as he said himself. After his baptism, he will prénommer Leonardo, as a reference to Leonardo da Vinci.

Painter and printmaker, Leonard Foujita was also a draftsman, illustrator, sculptor, ceramist, photographer, filmmaker, designer fashion, designer ...