LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA (1886-1968)Nu assis (Jacqueline Barsotti-Goddard) signed and dated 'Foujita 1929' and further signed in Japanese (centre right); signed and dated 'Foujita 1929' and further signed and inscribed in Japanese (on the stretcher)oil on canvas64.8 x 100.2cm (25 1/2 x 39 7/16in).Painted in Paris in 1929Footnotes:The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Sylvie and Casimir Buisson. This work will be included in the forthcoming Vol. IV of the Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita catalogue raisonné, currently being prepared.ProvenanceGalerie Mantelet (Colette Weil), Paris (acquired directly from the artist in 1929).Private collection, France (acquired from the above in 1929).Thence by descent to the present owner.ExhibitedMoscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Les muses de Montparnasse, 15 July – 3 October 2021, no. 183.The living body, the naked and natural body, the body stripped of artifice, the woman captured in her truth, her simplicity, her beauty, the woman: that was what fascinated Foujita. He put her at the very centre of his art, and she embodied the origin of the world. Mother, lover, confidante, and muse all at once, Foujita considered her a mediating figure between the human and the divine, a Renaissance-like conduit to God. Officially, Foujita had five wives. However, he admitted to having had thousands of models, visible in numerous studies, drawings, engravings, and paintings made of one or the other, populating his oeuvre. The angelic yet melancholic face of the present subject belongs to one of these muses, well-known among the artists of the Montparnasse: Jacqueline Goddard. In demand by fellow artists Kisling, Pascin, Derain, Matisse, Giacometti, Man Ray and Picasso, it was Foujita's house at the Parc Montsouris that Goddard favoured. Enchanted by this Art Deco, bucolic villa, she was adopted as a sister by Youki Foujita, the artist's wife and fellow muse.Jacqueline's modern look, Grecian profile, long neck and tousled hair made her one of the legendary models of Montparnasse from an early age. She was an orphan: her French mother died when she was young, whilst her father, André Barsotti, was a talented Tuscan sculptor who died three years before the present work was painted. If Foujita's name now evokes elegance, delicacy and contemplation, it is mainly due to his nudes. Painting Nu assis (Jacqueline Barsotti-Goddard) connected him not only to his past loves, the masters of the Italian Renaissance, such as Michelangelo and Botticelli, but also to his Japanese roots, and to the floating world of printmaking (Ukiyo-e), where modest nudity appears with great sensual intensity. The present work was one of the crown jewels of the Colette Weil gallery, with which Foujita had close ties in 1929, and was acquired by one of the gallery's patrons. The West and the East come together in Nu assis (Jacqueline Barsotti-Goddard), as Foujita transformed a young woman into a modern goddess of love. The contour of the shapes is perfect, the anatomy is irreproachable, and the body is harmonious. Everything flows in a smooth transition, reminding us of the firmness of a sculptural bronze and the polish of marble. The classic face evokes that of Simonetta Vespucci, the model for Botticelli's Venus in The Birth of Venus. Her muscular body seems to descend straight from the ceilings of the Sistine chapel, like a female version of an Ignudo painted by Michelangelo.The nude was an important theme for Foujita because it connected him to nature and to universal beauty. It also allowed him to follow in other great artists' footsteps: in addition to the masters of the Sistine, one sees the influence of Goya, Manet, Rodin, Canova, Ingres and even his contemporaries Modigliani, Matisse and Van Dongen. Even though Foujita's art did not belong to any specific time or school, it remained full of references, and if he broke the rules, it was because he knew them so well. In 1929, Foujita was at the highest point of his career. His milky white backgrounds and range of soft, creamy colours had already established his reputation around the world. Like Degas, Foujita considered that a well-drawn painting was always a well-painted painting. Indeed, his mastery culminated in the way he drew the outline: dipping his brush in black, he stretched the lines on the canvas without hesitation, in a single movement. Those lines were firm and assured, but also delicate and sensitive, which created balance and harmony. The traditional and stable triangular composition, which connects the head to the left hand and the heel of the foot, is balanced by the hair, which allows the painter to let his flat brush slide on the silky canvas. The strands of hair come to life and frame the face, effortlessly and freely resting on the neck like an opalescent mother-of-pearl. Despite the Western model, subject and medium, Foujita allowed his Eastern heritage to express itself, blending both cultures together. As in all his paintings, the figure floats slightly, as if suspended in weightlessness, between rest and action. This Japanese notion of suspension, interruption, and emptiness, which can be found in painting as well as in architecture and in Japanese craftsmanship, is the Ma. It influenced Foujita, who explored the space between the lines, outside and inside the figure. Evoking Japanese metaphysics and aesthetics, which sanctify the idea of breathing, the artist painted the time of breathing, between inspiration and exhalation. Goddard's gaze in the present work is lost in the distance: the beautiful thinker meditates. She holds her breath like Foujita. Another Japanese notion comes into play: the katabokashi, or the fading of the form. If the Ma connects the forms while separating them, the katabokashi is a clever network of greyness, barely visible, which emphasises and translates the Ma. It animates the lower section of the painting and gives it life. It corresponds to the lighter white halo that surrounds the body and allows it to stand out against the background. To achieve this effect, Foujita rubbed cotton wool barely dipped in black or grey pigment. Another Japanese aesthetic and spiritual concept used by the artist was the wabi-sabi: the veneration of the beauty of imperfect things, the magic of their patina and their ageing process. Evoking the wear and tear of time on the surface of the painting, Foujita highlighted the impermanence of life and beauty. To achieve this effect, he used cotton wool soaked in grisaille made of black soot and dry oil. Then, he scattered the pigment inside the small air bubbles that dried and broke on the surface of the canvas. This gave the illusion that the painting had been shaped by time. Foujita embraced his ancestral roots but turned to the West to enrich his artistic vocabulary in this East/West hybrid work. His ability to oscillate between these two cultures, to feed on them and to transcend them was due to his love for art and life rather than aesthetic satisfaction. All his life, he believed in the invisible power of art without borders, embodied by the Montparnasse, which brought together the best avant-gardes from all over the world. Transcending the world, escaping time, and connecting with the gods of creation was Foujita's artistic goal from an early age. Sylvie BuissonArt HistorianAuthor of the forthcoming Volume IV of the Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita catalogue raisonné, in collaboration with Casimir Buisson, expert for the artist at the French ... This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * AR* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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