JAPANESE AND KOREAN ART 23 march 2022

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF KAWANO SHIGEICHI
654
LÉONARD TSUGUHARU FOUJITA (1886-1968)
A recumbent cat
Showa era (1926-1989), 1933
In ink and slight color on silk, signed in ink Tsuguharu in Japanese
and Foujita in Roman letters, dated 1933
8 x 13in (20.2 x 33cm)
$10,000 - 15,000
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist, and thence by descent
Kawano Shigeichi (1891-1982) was born in Hiroshima Prefecture and
emigrated to United States as a child. He studied law in Tacoma,
Washington. After moving to Los Angeles to manage a hotel, Kawano
opened a law practice in 1921 serving the city’s growing Japanese-
American community. He soon became a leader in the community
and served as President of the Hiroshima Prefectural Association of
Southern California in 1928 and was a later elected to the Board of
Trustees for the Japanese Association of Los Angeles. At the outbreak
of World War II, Kawano was interned at Heart Mountain Detention
Camp in Wyoming. Following the war, Kawano returned to Los
Angeles where he helped to re-build the community.
During one of Foujita’s travels through United States, the artist spent
time in Los Angeles and was hosted by Kawano. In appreciation of
the hospitality shown him, Foujita gifted Kawano with the ink paintings
of cats in this, and the following lot. The paintings have been in the
Kawano family since they were received from Foujita.
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