Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968, Japanese-French) was a painter and print-maker and a well-known lover of cats. His works skillfully mix traditional Japanese styles with the trend of the time, European Modernism. Born in Tokyo, Foujita studied western art at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, graduating in 1910. Three years later he traveled to Paris where he met Picasso, Modigliani , Matisse, Fernand Léger and Jacques Cocteau, with whom he shared a love of cats.
Jean Cocteau and Foujita with Cat Show Winner, Paris Nov. 3, 1950
He was able to make a great deal of money during his lifetime through his eclectic style of painting nudes and cats. In 1925, he was awarded the Belgian Order of Leopold. In 1931, he traveled to South America where he was a huge success. During WWII, Foujita lived in Japan where he helped produce war propaganda, and because of this, he was later labeled a fascist imperialist. He left Japan after the war and returned to France where he converted to Catholicism. At the age of 80 he designed and had built the Foujita Chapel in Reims, France, which was completed in 1966. Foujita died of cancer in Zurich, Switzerland, and was initially buried in the Cimetière de Villiers-le-Bâcle, France, but was later moved to the burial ground of the Foujita Chapel.
Foujita’s love of cats spanned his entire lifetime. The majority of his works either center on cats or include cats in the composition. He published a Book of Cats in 1930 which includes 20 etched plate drawings. This book is considered one of the top five hundred rare books ever sold.
When interviewed by the Milwaukee Journal in 1935, Foujita stated, “Ladies who would be alluring to men should surround themselves with cats…I never look at men, only at women—they have, each one such marvelous possibilities of beauty. But unfortunately most of them have not developed these possibilities because they have not learned the lessons cats can teach…” The good and bad qualities of cats closely resemble the attributes of women. “Cats never give anything away. They are out for what they can get. They have tigerish passions when aroused. They have grace, beauty of movement, intriguing languor. Cats are never in a hurry, never angular. They move softly, gently, insinuatingly. Clever women live with cats…They study the animal’s movements, habits and emotional reactions…”
Lucie Badoud, model and muse
Black and White Cat, 1920
Cat and Monkey, 1947
Cat Etching, 1920
Cat Lying Down
Cat on a Letter
Cat and Kitten, 1929
Cat with Stomach Up, 1929
Cat, 1926
Clowder of Cats
Couturier Cat, 1927
From A Book of Cats, 1930
A Book of Cats, Sappho
Kitten, 1929
Black and White Cat
Red Cat Sitting (Chat Roux Assis), 1930
Kitten trying to be Good
Cat and Kitten, Chatte et Chaton
Mother and Kitten
Orange Tabby Cat
Seated Cat
Sleeping Cat, 1929
Sleeping Cat, 1926
Sleeping Kitten
Three Cats Fighting over a Fish, 1932
Three Cats
Cat Sketch
Reclining Cat, 1918
Cat ,1929
Les Chats, 1930
Two Cats
Two Sleeping Kittens
White cat on Red Background, 1926
Black Cat on Red Stone
Cat with Kittens
Cat on Blue Background
Cat Sleeping on a Chair
Paleroyal, 1951
Vendôme, 1951
Portrait of Emily Crane Chadbourne, 1922
My Dream, 1947
Nude Woman and Cat
Dame aux chats
Woman and Cat, 1937
Woman Holding a Cat
Youki and cat
Girl Holding a Cat
Self-portrait, 1926
Want to know more about the cat in art, history and literature? Then Revered and Reviled is the book for you. Now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats.
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