Le Port De St. Cloud
Léonard Tsuguharu FOUJITA 藤田 嗣治
(Japanese, active in France, 1886-1968)
Le Port De St. Cloud
Date1939
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 10 5/8 x 14 in. (27 x 35.6 cm)
frame: 17 × 20 1/4 × 2 in. (43.2 × 51.4 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Hall and Lenore Adams
Object number1987.29
Subject(s)
- boat
Collection
- 20th century American
On View
On viewLabel TextFoujita became a French citizen in 1955, renouncing his Japanese citizenship in an effort to distance himself from his role in the propaganda machine of his native country as an official war artist during World War II. Precociously gifted, he became an instant sensation when he arrived in Montmartre in 1913, where he was befriended by Modigliani, Soutine, Léger, Gris, and the other members of the “bande à Picasso,” himself a deep admirer of Foujita’s highly eccentric art. Combining Western and Eastern techniques, Foujita was known for the delicacy of line that he achieved with the menso, a traditional Japanese ultra-thin brush. In this precisely constructed landscape, the refinement of line is enhanced by a milky-white glaze for which he was known, generating a pearlescent effect unique to the artist.
