A Single Line

I visited the exhibition “Léonard Foujita Private on Works(only in Japanese)” at Meguro Museum Art. As the title, the exhibition focuses on his book works or private works such as book design or illustrations or post card to his friends. Many works were painted with pens and thin brushes, and the impression was simple with few colors because most of them art small works.

I like the masterpieces of artists, but I also like sketches to get glimpses of their everyday life like postcards to their family or friends. You need preparation and physical fitness to face to art works such as expressing the artist’ impulse rising in their lives, but there were more relaxed works at this exhibition.

One of my favourite was 5 illustrations called “la fleur aux mille pétales d’or”. The five Japanese women were drawn in each, one looks down, one looks far away, one looks straightforward etc. Precise line drawing captures the soft curves of women brilliantly, the color scheme of making use of the plain background and women who feel the strength of the core somewhere despite grief. And their Japanese hair and kimono seem to complement their beauty more. Also, his touch like a foreign pain like a Japanese painting is also mysterious. I was drawn into a wordless mysterious world.

The single simple line, I gazed into the simplicity and couldn’t take my eyes off. To describe in an extreme manner, I paid rapt attention to the world that the single line creates. The line draws the object, the artist’s feelings and also it pulls out my imagination because its simplicity. I don’t know what it is but I feel excited somehow. I thought Foujita was a genius with the technique and the sense of beauty after all.
It is said that he had dynamic body eyesight such as he caught a person’s image who drove fast by the way.

(This is side story but Tsuguharu Foujita and Ryuichi Sakamoto looks alike, don’t they?) *The image is from Wikipedia

More two arts about “A Single Line”.
One is my favourite artist Isamu Noguchi’s Animal Sketch Polar Bear.

And the another is the essay “A Single Line” of a book “Life is a single line” by Toko Shinoda who is an artist aged 105 years old.

*I hope you will get the meanings because I translate it

A Single Line
The single line I have drawn can not make excuse
It can not escape or hide at all
Anywhere anyone
It can not fault responsibility
The single line is united with me
It is myself

Your life is also a single line

Although one single line but it is really important line. Mr. Foujita, Mr. Noguchi and Ms. Shinoda gave me a chance to think about a single line. Simple is the best but it is deep!

I also like Foujita’s other illustrations of a book that is from Jean Cocteau’s travel book to Japan “Le Dragon des Mers”
You can see the images from this gallery (only in Japanese)

*Today’s main image is from PARIS maison mère. You can buy the book “La fleur aux mille pétales d’or“.