As the title of this post notes, Foujita mostly depicted himself, young women and cats. His oil paintings often featured a creamy white paint concoction that became a signature characteristic of his Paris work. The cat and many of the women images were watercolor or other media on paper.
He left France for South America in the 1930s, eventually returning to Japan. During World War 2 he was a combat artist for the Imperial Army. Postwar, he returned to France, became a citizen and converted to Catholicism.
His works command five-digit auction prices.
His hair bangs and round-lens glasses were visual trademarks.
I don't have a date for this, but think it might be a fairly early painting.
Painted in France, here he features Japanese style.
From his South American period.
In France, age 68.
In New York's Met collection. Cats seem to be his best subject matter.
A fairly early Paris painting.
Youki (the name he bestowed on Lucie Badoul) was his third wife who later dropped him for Surrealist Robert Desnos.
Combat art. I don't know if Foujita ever went into the field -- after all, he was in his fifties by then. In the center is a dead Japanese soldier. That's not surprising, given the Japanese code of honorable death in combat. Western combat artists might have thought twice before making such an inclusion.
Obviously Foutita was not present when the Americans retook that Aleutian island, so the whole scene is imaginative. Note the World War One style helmets on the American troops. This headgear was phased out during 1942 for the "steel pot" helmet, so it seems that Foujita's reference material was out of date. Also note the Western style drawing and how different it is from his Paris works.
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