Foujita: A Retrospective
Commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of his Death 

July 31 (Tue) – October 8) (Mon-holiday), 2018.

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968) – a leading artist of the Ecole de Paris. Born in 19^th-century Japan, Foujita spent about half of his 80 some years in France and eventually took French citizenship and was buried there. In 2018, on the 50^th anniversary of his death, a grand retrospective surveying his entire career will be held with the cooperation of art museums in Japan, US.A. France, and throughout Europe.

The exhibition will trace Foujita’s development through representative artworks from each state — “Landscape Paintings”, “Portraits”, “Nudes”, “Religious Paintings”, and so on. Introducing new perspectives, it will close in on the essence of his art. An exhibition rich with highlights, it will feature not only his signature “milky white nudes” and other major works but pieces never seen in Japan or rarely exhibited.

Features

1. A grand retrospective of the largest scale

A befits a 50^th anniversary exhibition, one of the largest retrospectives yet held. Over 100 carefully selected works will be on display.

2. Foujita masterpieces from major Western art museum collections

Some 20 important works, including pieces never seen in Japan, will arrive from such distinguished museums as the centre Pompidou Paris, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, and the Art Institutes of Chicago in the USA.

3. Over 10 nudes displaying Foujita’s signature “milky-white” backgrounds

Arriving from overseas — Fouijita nudes on “milky-white” backgrounds, dating from this prime period in the 1920s. Joining them will be nudes in Japanese collections, including the recently restored Before the Ball (Ohara Museum of Art) and Five Nudes (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo).

4. Leonard Foujita returns to Ueno!

Ueno was a starting point for Foujita, who studied at Tokyo Fine Arts School (currently Tokyo University of the Arts) and held shows in the 1920s and ‘30s at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum on return visits to Japan. This will be the first ever Foujita retrospective in Ueno at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.