Marchande de lait (Milkmaid)
Tapestry woven in the Moulin de Vauboyen workshop.
1965.
Foujita is one of a number of artists whose work was woven at Bièvres at the Moulin de Vauboyen (hence the mark MV woven into the tapestries), which was transformed by Pierre de Tartas into an arts centre in 1959 and devoted to figurative art. Many noteworthy names would pass through including Cocteau, Foujita, Erni, Volti … among others, who would produce much work, often monumental, as well as realisations in the applied arts (notably book illustrations)
Foujita realised only a few tapestry cartoons, all of which were produced at Bièvres by Pierre de Tartas.
This one (an original watercolour 147 x 157 cm) was sold on 8th December 2015 by Tajan, and another preparatory drawing appeared in the Kimiyo Foujita succession (Cornette de St Cyr, 28
th October 2013, n°167c).
Likenesses of children become (even more) common in the period post 2
nd world war : all with the same physical type a large forehead, widely spaced eyes, thin nose, full lips and regularly represented in slightly archaic roles redolent of Poulbot’s work.
