Galerie Dreyfus
31
-
LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA (TOKYO, 1886 – ZURICH, 1968)
View …
See original version (French)
31
-
LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA (TOKYO, 1886 – ZURICH, 1968)
View …
See original version (French)
Estimate €76,000 - €95,000
Voluntary lot
Description
LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA
(TOKYO, 1886 – ZURICH, 1968)
View of the Jetty and Harbour at Saint-Quay-Portrieux
1917
Oil on canvas
38.1 × 46 cm
Signed and dated lower left: T. Foujita 1917
Certificate
Certificate of authenticity issued by Sylvie Buisson.
This work will be included in the fifth edition of the catalogue raisonné currently being prepared
by Sylvie Buisson.
Provenance
Acquired by the current owner’s mother around 1975; subsequently passed down through the family
Painted in 1917, View of the Jetty and the Harbour at Saint-Quay-Portrieux dates from
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita’s early years in Paris, a decisive period during
which the artist established a distinctive pictorial identity that would soon bring him
international renown. Having arrived in Paris in 1913, Foujita quickly became part of the artistic circle of
Montparnasse, then a veritable laboratory of modernity. There, he rubbed shoulders with the leading figures
of the avant-garde, including Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Diego Rivera.
The composition depicts the harbour and lighthouse of the Breton seaside resort of
Saint-Quay-Portrieux, whose monumental jetty structures the space of the painting. A few
boats scattered across the calm water enliven the pictorial surface and create a
subtle visual rhythm, whilst the sea and sky seem to merge into a gentle and
silent atmosphere. The whole exudes a sense of suspended calm, almost meditative, which
invites the viewer to take in the scene in slow contemplation.
This work already bears witness to Foujita’s particular sensitivity to the effects of
texture and light. The artist employs thin layers of diluted oil paint that are reminiscent of the
traditional washes of Japanese painting, a direct legacy of his training in Tokyo. Through
this technique, he achieves a subtle and vibrant pictorial surface where silvery and
sandy tones seem to diffuse a soft, enveloping light. This fusion of Eastern
tradition and Western modernity constitutes one of Foujita’s
Foujita and largely explains the originality of his work within the School of Paris.
The year 1917 also marks a particularly significant moment in the
artist’s career. This period coincided with his marriage to the painter and
muse Fernande Barrey, as well as his first solo exhibition, organised by the
Parisian gallery owner Georges Chéron. The immediate success of this exhibition helped
to establish Foujita as one of the most promising artists on the Parisian scene.
Having remained in the same family for nearly half a century, this recently rediscovered painting
is of considerable historical and artistic interest. Its clear provenance, combined with certification by Sylvie Buisson — a leading authority on the artist — and its forthcoming inclusion in the catalogue raisonné, further reinforces its significance within Foujita’s body of work.
Through the delicacy of its execution, the poetry of its atmosphere and its place within
a formative period of the artist’s career, *View of the Jetty and the Harbour at Saint-Quay-
Portrieux* constitutes a particularly valuable testament to the emergence of
at a time when the artist was gradually establishing himself as one of the leading figures
of Parisian modernity.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like