Cats, Nudes, and War Propaganda: Examining the Oeuvre of Tsuguharu Foujita

By: Gustė Matulionytė

The Japanese painter Tsuguharu Foujita, also known as Fujita Tsuguharu (1886-1968) is perhaps best known as a painter of cats – after all, his book of cat drawings – the Book of Cats, published in 1930, is one of the rarest and costliest books ever sold, and arguably the most sought-after book about cats ever published. Although felines were undoubtedly important to Foujita and featured in many of his paintings, his oeuvre extends much further than that. Born in Tokyo, Foujita graduated in 1910 having studied western art at what is now the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Like many contemporary Japanese artists Foujita was enamoured by modernist developments in France, and in 1913 fulfilled his dream to move to Paris. From then on, he led a successful career marked with recognition across multiple continents but a highly unstable reputation. Throughout the decades, Foujita went from being an École de Paris painter of cats and female nudes in the 1920s, to working as an official war propaganda artist for the Imperial Japanese government in the 1940s, to producing Catholic works of art in the 1960s.

Tsuguharu Foujita, Self-portrait [Autoportrait], 1929. Source: https://www.fondation-foujita.org/.

Upon moving to Paris, Foujita quickly became famous in the international modernist art scene both for his art and for his lifestyle. Foujita’s performative, dandyish persona, wild party lifestyle and a distinctive style, consisting of a fringed haircut, gold earrings and round glasses allowed him to easily blend into bohemian circles and form friendships with other rising artists, such as Amedeo Modigliani, Chaïm Soutine and Pablo Picasso. Just like his persona, Foujita’s art style was greatly attractive to both fellow artists and wider audiences. Foujita’s move to Paris was a story of great success – a story that not many Japanese expatriates shared. Many Japanese artists moved to France during the early twentieth century in hopes of starting a career in the modern styles that were burgeoning in Europe, but they were met with the unfortunate reality of European tastes. French audiences were enamoured with the traditional Japanese woodblock style, and regarded Japanese artists’ attempts to work in Western styles as inauthentic, forcing many to resort to traditional techniques to eke out a living, or to abandon art altogether. On the other hand, Foujita was able to establish a distinctive personal style – a combination of Western oil painting and Japanese calligraphic techniques. It allowed him to explore new forms while still catering to the Japonist tastes of the public. Foujita mostly painted female nudes. His compositions evidence an influence of the Orientalist Odalisques but are distinct for their colour palette. Foujita used a milky white colour for both the backgrounds and the figures, producing smooth, ceramic-like bodies defined by sinuous black lines. Many of the nudes include shaggy cats and textured fabrics that contrast with the idealised, decorative figures. The white oils even imbued the canvases with a porcelain-like lustre, further increasing the appeal of Foujita’s style.

Tsuguharu Foujita, Lying Nude [Nu couché], 1931. Source: https://www.fondation-foujita.org/.

 In the early 1930s, Foujita travelled extensively across Europe and Latin America and experimented with Surrealism, but eventually returned to Japan in 1933. The first years in Japan were rather slow for Foujita’s career, but that changed in 1938 when he received his first war painting commission from the Japanese military. Eventually Foujita became an official war artist and the president of the Army Art Association. One of the most notable Foujita’s war paintings is the Attu Island Sacrifice, 1943. It commemorates the battle between Japanese and American soldiers on the Attu Island and was intended to praise the Japanese soldiers who fought to death despite being outnumbered. The composition is dynamic, dark, and busy, the bodies of the soldiers blend together to the point where it is hard to decipher which side they are fighting for. The painting is markedly different from the usual style of propagandist paintings, which tend to be dominated by expressions of glory and victory. Nonetheless, the Japanese public received it extremely positively. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Foujita’s paintings were condemned as fascist propaganda. The artist was named in a list of culprits who should bear responsibility for their wartime activities by the newly formed Japanese Art Association and shunned by the Japanese public.

Tsuguharu Foujita, Attu Island Sacrifice, 1943. Source: https://www.wikiart.org/en/tsuguharu-foujita/.

 After Foujita’s death, there have been efforts to re-examine his war paintings in hopes of providing a more nuanced reading of this period of his career. Some have argued that paintings such as the Attu Island Sacrifice carry an anti-war sentiment, portraying all soldiers as victims and condemning the violence and dehumanisation of war. It has also been suggested that taking up the position of a military painter was the only viable way for Foujita to exhibit his art in a time of strict cultural control, and potentially allowed him to subtly criticise militarist ideology without facing persecution. On the other hand, it has even been suggested that the war paintings too could have been a performative move on Foujita’s part, much akin to his social life in Paris. There were instances when Foujita would stand beside the Attu Island Sacrifice in a museum wearing a helmet and combat boots, bowing to visitors who donated to war efforts, and acquaintances have said that in his studio Foujita kept a vast array of quasi-military uniforms that he designed for himself. Although it unknown whether Foujita’s militarism was performative, opportunistic, or rooted in actual political beliefs, his paintings nonetheless played a part in the Japanese militarist agenda and promoted self-sacrifice for the sake of the nation.

Tsuguharu Foujita, Young Girl with a Cat [Jeune fille au chat], 1950. Source: http://www.artnet.com/artists/léonard-tsuguharu-foujita/.

 After being ostracised in Japan, Foujita left the country in 1949, never to return. His reputation followed him outside of Japan – Foujita tried to return to France but was not immediately granted a visa due to being an ex-war propagandist. The artist spent a year in New York, where his exhibitions were boycotted, before being allowed to return to France in 1950. Foujita renounced his nationality and became a French citizen in 1955. He restarted his artistic career in France, but did not return to the avant-garde Parisian lifestyle, instead opting to stay in Reims for most of his remaining life. He went back to painting cats and female nudes, as well as eerie pictures of bug-eyed children. Foujita also turned to spirituality – him and his wife Kimiyo Foujita were baptised in 1959. Catholic motifs were prominently featured in Foujita’s work during this period. One of his last projects was the Foujita Chapel in Reims – a Romanesque chapel that Foujita designed and decorated himself. It features detailed stained-glass windows and grand frescoes that showcase scenes from the Bible, including one of Foujita and Kimiyo witnessing the crucifixion of Christ.

Tsuguharu Foujita, Virgin [Vierge], 1951. Source: https://www.fondation-foujita.org/.

 Foujita died of cancer in 1968, leaving behind a vast collection of artworks in a variety of styles and subjects. Although in the West Foujita is mostly known for his playful drawings of cats and milky, porcelain-white nudes, his stint as a war artist in the 1940s should not be glazed over or forgotten in favour of lighter subject matter. Undoubtedly, Foujita was a controversial figure throughout his entire life: his style, persona, and art itself garnered praise from some and disdain form others and earned him both support and criticism in France and Japan alike. Nonetheless, Foujita’s life seems to raise curious questions about the performative nature of an artistic persona, and to what lengths it can be taken before no longer being acceptable.

Notes:

Buruma, Ian, Theatre of Cruelty: Art, Film, and the Shadows of War. New York Review Books Collections. New York: New York Review Books, 2014.

Ikeda, Asato. “Fujita Tsuguharu Retrospective 2006: Resurrection of a Former Official War Painter.” Review of Japanese Culture and Society 21 (2009): 97–115. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42800262.

McDonald, Aya Louisa. “The Artist’s Widow Syndrome East and West: The Case of Foujita Kimiyo.” Art Journal 76, no. 1 (2017): 177–88. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45142459.

McDonald, Aya Louisa. “Foujita’s Year in the Sun.” Art Journal 78, no. 4 (Winter 2019): 131-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2019.1684117.