Paris, the Dream Becomes Reality
1913
Settled at the Hôtel Odessa, the painter Manuel Ortiz de Zarate took him to Picasso’s studio the next day. Within a few days, this visit brought him into the heart of the avant-garde. He also visited the Louvre, attended the Salon d’Automne, and began to observe, painting very little. He decided to abandon everything he had learned in Tokyo and start from scratch. His compatriot, the painter Kawashima Riishirō (1886-1971), introduced him to the Académie Duncan and assisted him in his various discoveries and experiments. By autumn, he moved to 14 Cité Falguière, thanks to Modigliani and Soutine. He assiduously frequented the Louvre, traveled to London in December, returned to Paris, and maintained a rich correspondence with Tomi, describing life in Paris and strongly urging her presence.
1914
Foujita and Kawashima bought land in Montfermeil, experiencing a beautiful return to ancient roots, but their momentum was cut short by the declaration of war, their expulsion from Montfermeil, and the destruction of their home. With family funds no longer reaching Paris, difficulties began, fostering exchanges. They joined the Red Cross to help France repel the enemy and endured dark times.
1915
In June, Count Paul-Alphonse Claret de Fleurieu, Foujita’s mentor during his journey, offered him refuge at the Château de Marzac in exchange for small tasks such as maintaining the chimneys and his troglodyte fortress of Reignac. Kawashima, who accompanied him, eventually left France in October for health reasons. Foujita completed this stay alone.
1916
In February, he returned to Paris and chose to go to London, where conditions were less difficult; after working as a furniture restorer for a Japanese antique dealer, he was a model maker at Selfridge’s when he had a romantic affair that suddenly made him doubt the relevance of his engagement.
With Fernande: Achieving Success Amidst War
1917
In January, back in Paris, he informed his father that he was staying in Paris for his career and asked him to break off his engagement. Furthermore, he met a young painter, Fernande Barrey (1893-1974), at La Rotonde; he married her immediately and moved into her home at 5 Rue Delambre. Together, they organized a first exhibition of 110 watercolors in June and another of over a hundred works in November at Galerie Cheron, the dealer for Chaïm Soutine and Amedeo Modigliani, on Rue de la Boétie. He achieved great success and a contract. Foujita successfully blended East and West in his paintings.
1918
In April, Foujita and Fernande stayed in Cagnes with Soutine and Modigliani at the invitation of the dealer Léopold Zborowski in a small house near Les Collettes, where they met Auguste Renoir at the end of his life. The encounter was memorable. The stay was foundational for Foujita. In November, back in Paris, he exhibited at the Devambez gallery. His success grew, critics praised the Japanese artist of Montparnasse and lauded his suburban landscapes inspired by Douanier Rousseau.
1919
In March, the Chéron gallery exhibited the syncretism of Foujita’s Mystical Compositions, which astonished all of Paris. In November, he participated for the first time in the Salon d’Automne and illustrated a first edition for La Belle Édition, 210 numbered copies of Quelques poèmes, de Komaki Ohmia. Foujita here combined Japanese poetry with Westernized graphics.
1920
Foujita exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, at Constant Lepoutre’s gallery, in Antwerp, and at the Salon d’Automne.
The Decisive Invention of the White Background
1921
Foujita, a jury member for the Salon d’Automne, exhibited in Brussels, Rotterdam, and stayed in Rome with his patron Henri Seeholzer, a Swiss international lawyer. There, received by Pope Benedict XV, he visited the Vatican and admired Raphael, Botticelli, Verrocchio, and Michelangelo. The Holy Father, who had commissioned his portrait, died in the interim. Back in Paris, in the secrecy of his studio, he perfected his white background technique for Nudes, Portraits, and Still Lifes on canvas.
1922
For the first time, he presented two large-format paintings at the Teiten Salon in Tokyo, Mon Intérieur and Nature morte au réveil matin (Still Life with Alarm Clock), works exhibited the previous year at the Salon d’Automne. His father was proud. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Brussels acquired Mon portrait, the first state acquisition.
With Youki: Painting in the Roaring Twenties
1923
Foujita exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries and became an associate member of the Salon de la Société Nationale in Paris and the Teiten Salon in Tokyo. He decorated the interior of banker Fierens’ home in Antwerp, met Lucie Badoud (1903-1964) at La Rotonde, and left Fernande Barrey.
1924
At the Salon d’Automne, Foujita triumphed with his painting titled Youki, déesse de la neige (Youki, Goddess of Snow), depicting his new companion whom he nicknamed Youki, meaning snow in Japanese. The couple moved to 17 Rue Henri-Martin in the Passy district. In November, he designed the costumes and created the set for Tournoi Singulier for the Ballets Suédois and exhibited at the Centaure gallery in Brussels.
1924
Foujita received numerous portrait commissions and was the subject of a first monograph by Michel Vaucaire (1904-1980). A Knight of the Legion of Honor in France, he was also made a Knight of the Order of Leopold I in Belgium. The summer was spent at Les Sables Blancs.
1926
L’Amitié (Friendship), a painting from 1924, was purchased by the French State for the Musée du Luxembourg. In November, he exhibited the Portrait du lutteur Tochigiyama (Portrait of Wrestler Tochigiyama) at the Salon d’Automne.
1927
The Katia Granoff gallery dedicated an exhibition to him, the Chalcographie du Louvre purchased the copper plate of a self-portrait, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées commissioned him for the sets and costumes of the play Shin-Kabuki Shuzenji-monogatari, which was also performed at the Odéon. The summer was spent in Dinard and Bréhat.
1928
Undoubtedly his most productive year, the commission from patron Satsuma Jirohachi for the decoration of the Maison du Japon at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris—two monumental diptychs, Grande Composition and Combats, presented at Bernheim-Jeune, and their cohort of preparatory drawings—did not prevent him from creating numerous nudes, cats, children, illustrations, and engravings. The couple moved to Square Montsouris near Georges Braque and André Derain. Thanks to Youki, Foujita discovered surrealist ideas and Robert Desnos. Calder presented his Cirque at their home during a memorable evening. The summer was spent with friends in Deauville and Bréhat.
With his studio closer to Montparnasse, the painter received more visitors and models, including Jacqueline Barsotti, whom he shared with Man Ray. Located on the top floor of his Art Deco villa, his spacious workspace opened onto a pleasant balcony where he posed for photographer Andrès Kertész. He himself acquired an ultra-modern Kodak camera, with which he filmed scenes of his models and especially Yuki.
1929
At the 1st Salon of Japanese Artists in Paris, Galerie La Renaissance, he presented his monumental gold-background work L’Arrivée des Occidentaux au Japon (The Arrival of Westerners in Japan), intended for the Maison du Japon, and undertook a series of eight gold panels for the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He presented Combats and Grande Composition, paintings rejected by Baron Satsuma, at the Musée du Jeu de Paume. He decided to marry Youki. His production intensified, focusing on children, cats, and still lifes, until his departure for Japan in September.
The Asahi Shimbun newspaper scheduled major exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, all of which were successful. Youki met his father, brother, and sisters—a return to his roots, certainly prompted by a tax adjustment, but one that filled them with happiness, immortalized by his 18mm Kodak camera.
Bonus - Attitudes
Excerpts from films belonging to Youki and Foujita, 1928-1930 © editing and property of Didier Couëdic, France
1930
In January, returning to Paris after a stopover in the United States, he was confronted with the proven romance between his wife and the poet Robert Desnos. This discovery so deeply affected him that he temporarily shifted to an expressionistic and flamboyant style for four large formats: Le lupanar (The Brothel), Youki et le lion (Youki and the Lion), Trois femmes (Three Women), and La Victoire de la vie sur la mort (The Victory of Life over Death). In autumn, he left Paris for New York, where he exhibited at the Reinhardt gallery and stayed for a month in Chicago. Youki spent the summer with Robert Desnos and moved in with him at 6 Rue Lacretelle.
1931
Foujita secretly prepared to leave Paris by organizing a solo exhibition tour in Latin America with his friend Vincente Do Rego Monteiro (1899-1970). He realized that he had fulfilled his mission as a Japanese painter in Paris, achieved maximum success, and was creatively stifled by the romantic turmoil Youki caused him. These reasons led him to abruptly leave France with his last model, Madeleine Lequeux, on October 31, 1931, leaving all his works to Youki, who was tasked with sharing them with Fernande. Foujita left a farewell letter for Youki and sent another to Robert Desnos, entrusting him with Youki’s care.