Sōtarō Yasui #sotaroyasui

Sōtarō Yasui #sotaroyasui

This portrait of a sophisticated modern Japanese woman with short wavy black hair wearing a light gray striped two-piece skirt suit, billowing black lace scarf, and a pink hat with red ribbon while seated with her legs crossed (exposing her knee and part of her leg) and looking slightly away from us is by Japanese artist Sotaro Yasui (安井曾太郎) who became famous as a portrait painter with his 1934 works “Portrait of Mr. Tamamushi” in the collection of Tohoku University and “Portrait of Chin-Jung” in the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Thereafter, commissions for portraits like this one never ceased. The stylish woman depicted here is Fukushima Keiko (福島慶子), an essayist and the wife of the art collector Fukushima Shigetaro (福島繁太郎). The Fukushimas spent the 1920s mainly in Paris and London, acquiring many works by contemporary artists such as Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, and Pablo Picasso, and brought them back to Japan. While in Paris, they had asked French artist André Derain to paint a portrait of Keiko, but her ill health prevented its execution. Regretting that lost opportunity, they selected Yasui to paint her portrait after returning to Japan. Keiko began to visit Yasui’s atelier in Mejiro, Tokyo, and model for him. Yasui was usually mild-mannered, but, when painting, he directed a fierce, even terrifying gaze at his models. Keiko wrote that it was exhausting. Also, Keiko deliberately wore a suit with narrow stripes that would be difficult to paint, testing Yasui’s abilities with a “costume that would be Yasui’s downfall.” However, Yasui found that challenge aroused his ambition creating an unspoken game between artist and model, which can be felt in this painting. The Fukushimas were quite satisfied with the portrait and became close friends with Yasui. From the latter half of the 1930s, Yasui began using vivid gorgeous colors that became known as the “Yasui style” (安井様式) and remain popular to this day.

Ｆ夫人像 (Portrait of Mrs. F) by 安井曾太郎 / Sotaro Yasui (Japanese) - Oil on canvas / 1939 - Artizon Museum (Tokyo, Japan) #womeninart #art #oilpainting #安井曾太郎 #SotaroYasui #Yasui #artwork #洋画 #JapaneseArt #womensart #portraitofawoman #portraitofalady #JapaneseArtist #アーティゾン美術館 #fineart #artoftheday #安井様式