Jeune femme au béret 1950

Curator: The work we are looking at is entitled "Jeune femme au béret" ("Young Woman with a Beret") rendered in pencil by Tsuguharu Foujita in 1950. Editor: The first thing that strikes me is how haunting her eyes are, it gives the drawing an otherworldly feeling. I keep getting drawn back into the eyes. Curator: Foujita’s work, even his portraiture, always existed in an intricate intersection of cultural and aesthetic exchange, informed by both Japanese artistic traditions and the avant-garde movements he encountered in Europe, this drawing shows his continued dedication to line work. It is rendered with a delicacy and elegance so recognizable. Editor: It does give me the sense of standing in a Montmartre cafe, or some artist’s garret overlooking the city; it is cool, subdued but alive, don't you think? Also I'm sort of getting Modigliani vibes from the long elegant nose. Curator: Yes, I find myself drawn to the social implications of her gaze. Is this an artist looking upon his subject, or is the subject in control, returning the viewers’ gaze with intelligence? It speaks volumes. Editor: Maybe she is looking at you and me and deciding we are harmless? You know, it is interesting, isn’t it, how we can project so much into something so seemingly simple. Curator: Indeed. I see in this "Jeune femme au béret" the layered identity of a global artist, of a cross-cultural moment where identity itself was being interrogated on the global stage through war and the development of social theory. Editor: You know, standing here I can almost smell the scent of turpentine and cigarette smoke. Art is something, ain't it? Curator: A way into seeing, indeed.