Glory in a Line

The first biography in English of the Japanese artist who was a central figure in the dazzling artistic milieu of 1920s Paris When we think of expatriates in Paris during the early decades of the twentieth century, certain names come to mind: Hemingway, Picasso, Modigliani--and Foujita, the Japanese artist whose distinctive works, bringing elements of Japanese art to Western oil painting, made him a major cultural figure in 1920s Montparnasse. Foujita was the only Japanese artist to be considered part of the "School of Paris," which also counted among its members such prominent artists as Picasso and Modigliani. Noteworthy, too, was Foujita's personal style, flamboyant even for those flamboyant times. He was best known for his drawings of female nudes and cats, and for his special white color upon which he could draw a masterful line--one that seemed to outline a woman's whole body in a single unbroken stroke.
With the advent of the Second World War, Foujita returned to Japan, where he allied himself with the ruling Japanese mili-tarists and painted canvases in support of the war effort. After Japan's defeat, he was scorned for his devotion to the military cause and returned to France, where he remained until his death in 1968. Acclaimed writer and translator Phyllis Birnbaum not only explores Foujita's fascinating, tumultuous life but also assesses the appeal of his paintings, which, in their mixture of Eastern and Western traditions, are memorable for their vibrancy of form and purity of line. Phyllis Birnbaum is a novelist, biographer, journalist, and translator. Her work has appeared in "The New Yorker," "The Times Literary Supplement," and other publications. "Modern Girls, Shining Stars, the Skies of Tokyo: Five Japanese Women" is a collection of her biographical essays. She lives near Boston. When we think of expatriates in Paris during the early decades of the twentieth century, certain names come to mind: Hemingway, Picasso, Modigliani--and Foujita, the Japanese artist whose distinctive works, bringing elements of Japanese art to Western oil painting, made him a major cultural figure in 1920s Montparnasse. Foujita was the only Japanese artist to be considered part of the "School of Paris," which also counted among its members such prominent artists as Picasso and Modigliani. Noteworthy, too, was Foujita's personal style, flamboyant even for those flamboyant times. He was best known for his drawings of female nudes and cats, and for his special white color upon which he could draw a masterful line--one that seemed to outline a woman's whole body in a single unbroken stroke. With the advent of the Second World War, Foujita returned to Japan, where he allied himself with the ruling Japanese militarists and painted canvases in support of the war effort. After Japan's defeat, he was scorned for his devotion to the military cause and returned to France, where he remained until his death in 1968. Acclaimed writer and translator Phyllis Birnbaum not only explores Foujita's fascinating, tumultuous life but also assesses the appeal of his paintings, which, in their mixture of Eastern and Western traditions, are memorable for their vibrancy of form and purity of line. "As an artist who has received relatively scant attention from biographers outside Japan and France, Foujita presents Ms. Birnbaum with an uncommonly rich opportunity. His story is colorful, dramatic, controversial and even mysterious . . . An intriguing book on the basis of its odd story, its resurrection of Foujita's reputation and its exploration of the many contradictions he embodied."--Janet Maslin, "The New York Times" "Engaging . . . Phyllis Birnbaum shows convincingly that Foujita could be a serious artist."--Ian Buruma, "The New York Review of Books" " Foujita is] fortunate that, in this first full-length biography, he has found a chronicler of the caliber of Birnbaum . . . His whole wonderful, terrible, happy and sad saga is] now perfectly preserved for us."--Donald Richie, "The Japan Times" "Brisk and stylishly written . . . an] engaging portrait of the artist as cultural chameleon."--Christopher Benfey, "The New York Times Book Review" "Informed by Birnbaum's wry affection for her subject, "Glory in a Line"] offers 'a complicated kind of sympathy' for the plight of an artist who kept navigating, with varying results, between cultures that are still deeply fascinated and puzzled by each other."--Carolyn Burke, "San Francisco Chronicle" "Phyllis Birnbaum uses wide-ranging research and access to both French and Japanese sources to bring to life an intriguing, enigmatic artist who lived and worked in two worlds, balancing between the art world of Paris and the demands of his Japanese heritage . . . Birnbaum has created a multi-faceted portrait of a 20th century artist whose life and work continue to fascinate us today."--Julie Martin, co-author (with Billy Kluver) of "Kiki's Paris" "So distinctive was his appearance, so flamboyant his pranks, and so popular his paintings of women and cats, Foujita was a Jazz Age superstar. Born in Tokyo in 1886, Foujita arrived in Paris in 1913 and soon forged an alluring style that combined Western settings with Japanese traditions to create, as Birnbaum so vividly attests, works distinguished by extraordinarily nuanced whites and breathtakingly supple and precise lines. Yet for all his success, the fastidious, disciplined Foujita was destined to arouse controversy. Birnbaum, whose earlier works focus on Japanese women, judiciously teases apart the many contradictions and mysteries enfolded in Foujita's dramatic life, chronicling his rise to fame, five marriages, return to Japan in the 1930s, and surprising metamorphosis into his at-war homeland's foremost military artist. With access to newly available materials and expertise in all things Japanese, Birnbaum tracks Foujita's ups and downs with compassion, humor, and discernment, exhibiting particular sensitivity in her analys