Tsuguharu Foujita, Fillette aux deux chats (Girl with Two Cats)

1956

Medium
Oil on canvas

Artwork Size35 × 24 cm

Framed Size61.5 × 49.5 cm

Signature and InscriptionSigned and inscribed lower right
Also signed and inscribed on reverse

Fillette aux deux chats (Girl with Two Cats), painted in 1956, is a work that clearly demonstrates Tsuguharu Foujita's distinctive painting style.

A girl is depicted in the center of the canvas, gazing directly at the viewer. Her face is rendered in an extremely faint, almost white tone, and her skin reveals the delicate beauty characteristic of Foujita's works.

Particularly striking in Foujita's depiction of figures are this white skin and the extremely fine and precise outlines. He portrays figures with delicate lines reminiscent of traditional Japanese drawing and ink brushwork, while using light colors such as red and blue for their clothing.

Rather than composing the scene with strong brushstrokes and rich colors, Foujita's unique aesthetic can be seen in how he accentuates the presence of the figures through lines, white space, and faint colors.

And in this work, the two cats depicted with the girl play a particularly important role.

The cats are rendered with great detail, each possessing a sense of life as if they were independent beings. The interplay of glances between the girl and the cats creates a unique tension and poetic mood within the quiet scene.

At first glance, it appears to be a tranquil everyday scene of a girl and cats. However, there is a stillness in the girl's expression that makes her emotions difficult to read, and her gaze lends the work a somewhat dreamlike, mysterious atmosphere.

Furthermore, the green area surrounding the canvas is not merely decorative; it acts as a frame, isolating the figures within a single space. The contrast between the green and Foujita's characteristic white background also gives the impression that the girl stands at the boundary between two worlds: this side and the other.

In the 1950s, Foujita also deepened his interest in religious art and Italian primitive painters. In this work, one can observe a serene, timeless depiction of figures reminiscent of ancient religious paintings by artists such as Fra Angelico and Giotto.

Using the everyday subject matter of a girl and cats, Foujita portrays a quiet, mystical world that transcends a mere portrait or genre scene.

The great charm of this work lies in its harmonious blend of traditional Japanese line drawing and Western oil painting, realistic figure depiction and a dreamlike atmosphere, all within a single canvas.