1st Edition, French

Published by Flammarion in 1980

Hardcover, Dust Jacket Included

His self portrait is detachable on the first page.

"Consider me dead until I become famous" wrote the young Foujita in a letter to his Father. Born to a wealthy aristocratic family 1886, Foujita moved from Tokyo to Montparnasse in his mid-twenties, ambitious to become an artist.

He was known to his friends affectionately as Fou Fou and was undoubtably one of the greatest Japanese artists of the 20th century for his delicate drawings of cats, nudes and children. But he was also known for his lavish lifestyle, having once worn a lampshade on his head to visit the opera, pretending it was traditional Japanese costume.

At his first solo show at Chéron’s gallery near the Champs-Elysées he sold all 110 works on the first day, among the buyers was Pablo Picasso who is said to have purchased as many works as he could carry under his arm.

His signature style, the milky-white glaze that covers his paintings was produced with a recipe he kept secret until it was eventually revealed to be a mix of flaxseed oil, crushed chalk and magnesium silicate.

96 pages Edition originale. Illustrations en noir et en couleurs. Texte rédigé par un ami de Foujita. Bel exemplaire.