Date: Apr. 17(Sat), 2021 – Sept. 5(Sun), 2021

Léonard Foujita (Fujita Tsuguharu, 1886-1968) traveled to France in 1913 at the age of 26 with the intention of becoming a world-class painter. He sought inspiration in the scenery and people, history and customs of a foreign land. Painting French models in the 1920s, he established his signature ‘milky white skin’ painting and became the darling of the Paris art scene at the time. Traveling later, he would develop new motifs and compositions marked by a rich color palette.

After a brief return to Japan in 1929, Foujita sojourned in South, Central, and North America before again crossing the Pacific Ocean to come back once to Japan where he traveled the length of the country from Tohoku to Okinawa. He then spent time in China and Southeast Asia. In 1949, he moved to New York. The world of his travels was his studio.

This exhibition focuses on Foujita’s travel and use of color, and the development of his painting as his life journey.