Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita

In 1931, Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita embarked on a world tour that would profoundly shift the narratives of his life and art. The close of the Roaring Twenties saw not just the devastating break of his third marriage to Lucie Badoul ('Youki'), but also the first stages of the Great Depression.

Dodging the French government's pursuit of exorbitant taxes he had hitherto evaded, Foujita reached an impasse. He fled Paris with his new lover, a beautiful and charismatic young model named Madeleine Lequeux. A member of the thriving bohemian scene of Montparnasse, Madeleine was a hostess at Le Sphinx by day and a performer at the Casino de Paris by night. She is instantly recognisable throughout Foujita's early 1930s oeuvre from her handsome features: golden red hair, piercing blue eyes, a regal nose and a strong, elegant chin. These traits identify her as the resplendent subject of the present work, Nu allongé.

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