Self Portrait 1932

Tsuguharu Foujita painted this self portrait with oil on canvas in 1926. At the time, Foujita was one of a number of Japanese artists working in Paris. The work shows him in his studio, posing self-consciously with a cat and various props. We see a bespectacled artist, in a western style shirt, the hint of a moustache suggesting his knowledge of European artistic circles. In this way, Foujita is reflecting on his place in a changing art world. How does an artist negotiate different cultural traditions? Is he honouring the traditions of western art, or subverting them by placing himself centrally as a Japanese artist? These questions are still relevant today. And the art historian uses the tools of archive, biography and social history to interpret them. By examining works like this, we can better understand the social and institutional context that shapes all art.