Ink，charcoal on paper

女士：34.5 x 23.5 cm. 13 5/8 x 9 1/4 in.　女孩：18.5 x 16.5 cm. 7 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.

Lady’s Portrait：Signed ‘Fujita’ on the lower right　Girl’s Portrait：Signed ‘Fujita’ on the left；dated is 58' on the right side
PROVENANCE Formerly the property of artist's wife Ms. Kimiyo Foujita
Succession Kimiyo Foujita-Part II Auction, Cornette de Saint Cyr, March 27 2013, Paris, Lot 512 & 618,
Acquired from the above acution by the present owner.
NOTE This set of works come with the certificates issued by Commette de Saint Cyr Auction in Paris.

Léonard-Tsuguharu Foujita
1886-1968
From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Paris was as much a cradle for modern expressionist art as a traditional cultural hub. With various avant-garde schools vying to make a name for themselves, there was a group of unaffiliated artists who were active in the Parisian art scene. They had come to the mecca of art to lead an ascetic life for the sake of their artistic faith. Steadfast in their respective stylistic convictions, they emerged eventually as an undeniable force in the history of art and have come to be known as the Paris School. Among them was an oriental face, that of Foujita. With his original oriental oil painting with inklings of ink which is characterized by delicate ink lines and light colours on a creamy white surface, Foujita won himself recognition in not only France but also the rest of Europe.

On his return to Paris from Japan after the war in 1950, Foujita put the bustling Japanese art scene and his glamourous achievements in Paris behind him, and lived with his wife in the outskirts of Paris. Life was uneventful for the elderly painter, who converted to Christianity in 1959 for even more peace at heart, and mainly worked on biblical, children and animal subject matters. Presented at the current auction are two portraits dated 1955. In these everyday classics, the artist’s unique ethereality exudes from the complementary fine delineation, neutral greyish tones and light shadows. Even though they are just sketches, the sublime pearly skin that Foujita has been so famous for is somehow detectable.

Girl’s Portrait and Lady’s Portrait were both acquired from Kimiyo Foujita, the artist’s wife since 1936. Together with others in the artist’s estate, the works were consigned to Cornette de Saint Cyr to be auctioned off in March 2013 and were sold to a major French collector. The provenance is such that authenticity is the last thing that any collector should worry about.

Price estimate:
HKD：80,000 - 120,000
USD：10,300 - 15,500

Auction Result:
HKD: 92,000