Talk:Tsuguharu Foujita

When did he leave Japan?
Is it correct to Ｓａｙ that he stayed in Japan until 1939? I thought he was an enthusiastic producer of Japanese war propaganda during the war.(Buyo 07:03, 24 May 2006 (UTC)). I have changed the article following no response for a year on this discussion page. I believe the article to have been incorrect. There was a exhibition in Tokyo last year including his large scale propaganda paintings from the war.

What printmaking techniques did he actually use?
Johnbod 01:52, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

"Fujita" Romanisation preferable?
The French article has it listed as "Fujita" which seems to be the standard way of romanising the common surname "藤田" I couldn't find this article at first because of this antique, French romanisation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.37.244.104 (talk) 02:41, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
 * see Getty Union name list they actually prefer "Foujita, Léonard", saying "Note: Changed his name to Léonard in honor of Leonardo da Vinci" and also give him a French nationality. But generally the article needs improving all round. Johnbod (talk) 02:49, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

The romanised name of Foujita is listed as 'Foujita' throughout the art world, including the recent retrospective exhibition in |Tokyo and Kyoto and all major works by Buisson and others —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kunchan (talk • contribs) 11:00, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

The cover design which he produced for the regular Henri Lefebvre edition of Yvonne de Bremond d'Ars's C'est arrive en plein Paris, which I happen to have before me (1957 printing), is legibly signed "Foujita." Inside, in the 'justification du tirage' of this work, his name is given twice as "FOUJITA." The French Wikipedia now uses "Foujita": https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugouharu_Foujita  And the Getty's Union List of Artist Names now prefers "Foujita, Tsugouharu." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.125.166.33 (talk) 05:06, 18 September 2016 (UTC)


 * In much of the more recent English language art historical scholarship, generally Fujita Tsuguharu is the name used. Also note that the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo currently lists his name as Fujita Tsuguharu (https://www.momat.go.jp/en/artists/afu018), though they have used other variations in the past. The National Diet Library Web Authority also lists the romanization first as Fujita Tsuguharu with Léonard Foujita as the variant (https://id.ndl.go.jp/auth/ndlna/00016470). Video Researcher Nina (talk) 04:32, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Fujita Tsuguharu is his romanized Japanese name, but Foujita reached the height of his fame in France with the "u" in his name. I think keeping the "u" reflects the context of his importance in the French art scene. Before the main image in this article was recently updated the picture used was one signed by him in Paris as "Foujita",  see diff,.  The name Foujita was his choice: a pun in French that led to his nickname that makes the pun explicit "Fou Fou" and reflects the character he created (e.g., his unusual fashion). Later he chose his name to be Léonard Foujita, around the time he chose to be baptized Catholic after leaving Japan and returning to France. Wtfiv (talk) 08:29, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

French oil techniques to japanese paintings
I think the opening stement of this article needs to be changed. Foujita did not paint as claimed. His painting styles and themes are distinctly European and not traditonally Japanese at all. If one compare Foujita's work, to the Japanese inspried Van Gough, you can see in many cased Foujita almost seems to have classical inspiration, especially in his nudes.

Moreover, and more, importantly, Foujita developed his own oil technique that he was RENOWN for - rpoducing the luminous whites to which he added Japanese sumi ink. One could almost say he applie Japanese paint techniques to european style painting. Any opinions? I'll have a think, but I think that opening line needs to be rephrased —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kunchan (talk • contribs) 23:11, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Ok I'm changing the opening line to applying japanese technique to western painting Kunchan (talk) 22:23, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Foujita's Conversion to Christianity
I'm far from the appropriate person to do so, but I think that Foujita's conversion, and his interest in creating his own versions of famous biblical vignettes should be discussed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.17.106.44 (talk) 21:40, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Editing Foujita's role in WWII
I recently updated and expanded Foujita's role in WWII and added a number of sources with links. I added one of the pictures in commons as an illustration. It does slightly crowd the article, but illustrates the points added. I removed the Encyclopedia Japan as a source, as it wasn't used in the citations. I also reorganized the reference section, changing 'notes' section to 'citations', adding to the sources, and making sources available for a possible conversion to short footnote format. I also reorganized some later material, lightly edited some of prose, and reworked the headings (mainly bringing the information on his return to France in one section. But, the article could use more citations. I added one citation about when Foujita moved back to France. It'd be great to see this article expanded a bit. Foujita's life is a varied one, and his place in the twentieth century is complex, interesting one. Wtfiv (talk) 22:25, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

Japanese Names
To stay consistent with the article as I found it, I'm introducing them by first name/last name order rather than the Japanese last/name first/name order. I note the proper order in the translation, however. I think is easier for non-Japanese speakers to understand, particularly in sentences refering to the first names of his Japanese wives, Tomiko and Kimiyo. However, please feel free to rework them in Japanese order. I kept traditional Japanese order for Mori Ōgai, as this was his pen name, by which he was best known.Wtfiv (talk) 20:47, 31 July 2022 (UTC)

Images
Foujita's legacy is carefully protected by the trust created by Kimiyo, his last wife. Because of this, there are almost no images available to show on Wikipedia. The article had, but its problematic. It's copyright status is unclear, but it is most likely after 1923. Also, its style is not representative as it makes Foujita appear more like a Nihonga (Japanese traditional) painter than a yōga painter. For now, I replaced the image with one by Diego Rivera. It's copyright status is also unclear, but more clear than the posted Foujita image. It also makes a historical point: the cubism shows the culture Foujita entered, it emphasizes that he was friends with Rivera, and it shows he was paired with Kawashima, who was important to introducing him to Paris in his first few years there. Does this work, or should the image be reverted, or the Rivera removed? Wtfiv (talk) 18:55, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Recent Rewrite
The article has recently been almost completely rewritten in a single draft that removed the original article. The rewrite has many improvements and new information, but relies primarily on hard to obtain French sources. The majority of English-language sources, which were accessible and linked have been removed. In addition, the citation format of the article was changed from sfn to ref. Though the rewrite was bold, I'm going to modify it: changing the citation format back to sfn, returning information from linked and accessible English-language sources and adding other sources, as well as as other edits. Wtfiv (talk) 02:25, 3 May 2023 (UTC)