Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968) - Chat couché, planche du Book of Cats

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968) Lying cat, plate from the Book of Cats, 1929 Collotype after the artist's original drawing, on Japon vellum, from the extra suite of 20 plates issued with the copies of “A Book of Cats, being Twenty Drawings by Foujita,” with prose poems by Michael Joseph, New York, Covici Friede, 1930, limited edition of 500 copies — the suite pulled at 500 impressions per plate at most, many did not survive with the book. Signed “Foujita” and dated 1929 on the plate, with Japanese characters, as issued; not hand-signed. Without the “Made in France” stamp, specific to the book’s plates on Arches — in keeping with the suite on Japon vellum. Dimensions: Sheet: 23.5 × 28.5 cm (9.2 × 11.2 in) Image: 19.7 × 26 cm (7.8 × 10.2 in) Condition: Very good; margins slightly trimmed; not framed. References: Buisson, II.30.127 Plate from Foujita’s famous A Book of Cats, considered by booksellers to be the most desirable of books ever devoted to cats — a complete copy has exceeded $77,000 at public sale. Each of the twenty plates depicts a named cat, paired with a prose poem by the editor and British writer Michael Joseph. The extra suite on Japon vellum is the most sought-after print of these images. Foujita, “master of cats” and a major figure of the School of Paris, here treats his subject with his celebrated fusion of Japanese sumi line with Western modeling: a long-haired cat at rest, forepaws extended, fur rendered in fluffy strokes, the gaze alert, supremely feline. Original impression from the 1930 publication.

Estimate:$1,348.46

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