Sotheby’s Hong Kong Holds First-Ever Single-Artist Auction for Foujita: “The Foujita Lexicon” with 15 Works from the Lewis Collection on September 28

HONG KONG – Auction house Sotheby’s will hold on September 28 in Hong Kong the first auction ever in Asia devoted entirely to a single artist. Titled “The Foujita Lexicon: Works from the Lewis Collection,” the sale includes 15 works by Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, one of the most characteristic names of the School of Paris. The sale coincides with the 140th anniversary of the artist’s birth and follows the record success of the London sale “Masterpieces from The Lewis Collection.”

All 15 works come from the renowned British Lewis collection, built with dedication by businessman Joe Lewis and his daughter Vivienne during 1992–2017 — nearly three decades. The total sale estimate reaches HK$17.8–26.5 million, around US$2.3–3.45 million. The collection represents the most complete offering of Foujita’s oeuvre ever presented at auction in the region, spanning six decades of creativity — from the golden years in 1920s Paris to his return in the 1950s.

The star of the auction is “Mon portrait” (1924), the iconic self-portrait of the artist’s most celebrated period — with the characteristic haircut, round glasses and pipe — a visual manifesto in which the Eastern technique of calligraphy merges with Western aesthetics. Among the other notable lots are “Le rêve (Hommage à La Fontaine)” (1949–50) and “Madeleine endormie” (1933), the first work the Lewis family ever bought, estimated at HK$300,000–500,000. The artist’s auction record remains £7 million, set by “La fête d’anniversaire” (1949) at Bonhams London in 2018.

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886–1968) rose to prominence in 1920s Montparnasse, moving in the same circles as Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso, while counting among his contemporaries Chaïm Soutine, Henri Matisse and Fernand Léger. His unique fusion of Japanese and European traditions made him one of the defining voices of the era. He took French citizenship in 1955, converted to Catholicism in 1959 and died in 1968, shortly after the opening of the Romanesque chapel he frescoed himself in Reims.

A companion exhibition of all 15 works has opened at Sotheby’s Maison in Hong Kong and will remain open to the public until September 29. The auction itself takes place on September 28 at 6:00 p.m. local time, opening Sotheby’s Hong Kong autumn season.

Source: Artnet News / Sotheby’s