Reclining Nude with Toile de Jouy 1922

This is Tsuguharu Foujita's "Reclining Nude with Toile de Jouy," and I can imagine him making it, slowly, meticulously layering these powdery whites. Foujita had such a distinctive, almost porcelain-like rendering of skin. The setting looks like a stage set, doesn't it? With that black backdrop and the patterned fabric draped around the edges. It's like he's framing the scene, controlling our gaze. I wonder what he was thinking when he decided on that specific fabric? It's so busy and detailed, a stark contrast to the smooth, pale body. That tension must have been something he enjoyed! It makes you think about how the artist can set up a kind of conversation, not just between the elements within the painting, but between artists across time. Each stroke, each choice, is part of an ongoing dialogue, an evolution of how we see and interpret the world.