Asian painters were once marginalized in Paris, now her talent is recognized

Asian painters were once marginalized in Paris, now her talent is recognized

Before the devastating effects of the Second World War , Paris was the center of the art world. The salons, schools and cafes of the city attracted painters from all over the world, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and Salvador Dalí, who flocked to France's capital in the 1920s and 1930s.

expectations of Asian artists

artists who came to Paris from Asia, however, were completely different from their European colleagues. Paris may have been a melting pot of different cultures, but the city was also the heart of a colonial empire that had a fascination for everything exotic.

"It seems that oil is a medium that is too heavy for its hands," said French art critic Henri Lormian derogatory about the Vietnamese painters who were shown in 1933 on a modern art exhibition in Paris. Instead, they were “used to light brush strokes,” he argued, adding: “It is the memories of the art of the Far East that seduce much more than a laboriously learned western technology.”

In other words, their art was neither "Asian" enough for his taste, nor her attempts to hug European art, good enough.

Asian artists in the interwar period

Despite marginalization and disinteresting, a generation of little-known artists from Japan, China, French Indochina and other parts of Asia left their stamp on Paris in the interwar period. Many of them were forced to reconcile the influence of their cosmopolitan environment with the exotic tastes of potential buyers.

Today, a century later, some of the pioneers of this time - fueled by the growing purchasing power of Asian collectors - finally receive the kind of recognition that gave their western contemporaries.

Le Pho: A Vietnamese artist in the spotlight

An example is Le Pho, a Vietnamese artist who once called Lormian due to a naked painting, which he described as a "to Occidental" (too west). Today his paintings achieve sums of over one million dollars and make it one of the most sought -after names in Southeast Asia. His work "La Family Dans Le Jardin", a relaxed scene that is reminiscent of French Impressionism and tender on silk was painted in 2023 for 18.6 million Hong Kong dollar ($ 2.3 million) sold-an auction record for his work.

Another remarkable artist is Sanyu, whose characteristic nude representations - their flat perspective and flowing calligraphic lines - are influenced by both its Chinese art formation and French modernism. After moving from Sichuan to Paris in 1921, however, he experienced little commercial success and died in poverty four decades later. Today he is considered the "Chinese Matisse", and the sale of a Rare group portraits ($ 33 million) has underpinned his status as one of the most sought -after artists in contemporary art.

merging of traditions

The knowledge of the experiences of Asian artists in Europe is also experiencing general interest thanks to a new exhibition in Singapore National Gallery. Almost 10 years in the creation, combined " City of Others: Asian artists in Paris, 1920s-1920s ”over 200 works from this time, many of them borrowed from French institutions and private Asian collections.

Le Pho and Sanyu are represented as prominently as the Japanese artist Tsuguharu Foujita and two of the most famous painters Singapore, Liu Kang and Georgette Chen. The exhibition illuminates how you struggled with your identity through searching self -portraits, landscapes that show your new home, and street scenes that represent Paris from the perspective of outsiders. References are limited to important western art movements such as cubism and surrealism and thus break with the conventional perspective through which this era is normally considered.

insights and influences

"We thought, 'When our history is about Asian artists in Paris, we should map their concerns and not project the concerns of a Eurocentric art history on them'," said the main curator of the exhibition, Phoebe Scott, in advance. "Otherwise we only repeat the meaning of Paris without presenting something new from our region."

The dual identities of the artists often express them by combining eastern and western techniques. Foujita's "Self-Portrait with Cat", which shows the artist surrounded by brushes and painting utensils in his studio, refers to both European and Japanese traditions and is inspired by "Sumi-e" ink painting. Other works show different Asian sensations, from compositions that are reminiscent of ancestral portraits, to unusually thin canvases that are reminiscent of paper or silk.

other paintings illustrate the overlooked level of the artists in styles such as impressionism. A selection of Chen's rural landscapes that were created during a trip to Provence radiates the warmth of Paul Cézanne; The impressive portrait of his wife, "Frau im Red Dress", the Japanese painter ItaCura Kanae, reflects the classic tendencies of the "Rappel à L’Ordre" - a French movement that rejected the avant -garde.

The influence of Asian artists on European art

In addition to taking out influences, Asian artists also shaped European art, Scott noted. The Paris scene had a "hybridizing aesthetics", added, and referred to the influence of African art on Picasso's works as an example. The presence of Asian painters enriched the cultural mix and linked to the many years of interest in oriental aesthetics, as they were seen in the "Japonisme" of the late 19th century when the enthusiasm for Japanese art, furniture and artifacts caught in Europe.

"It is difficult to say that a single modern Asian artist who came to Paris influenced French art," said Scott. "But was there an Asian influence on French art in general?"

The multicultural Montparnasse

For France's established Asian artists, life often revolved around the multicultural quartier Montparnasse, the home of the so -called school of Paris.

Here they bought their materials in the local art shops and made contacts in the Bohemian Cafés of the area. Sanyu, for example, refined his observation skills by visiting the académie de la Grande Chaumière to open academa hours (which is still the public for their Schnupper files invites-for a small fee).

foujita was also a prominent figure in the Montparnasse scene and maintained friendships with the celebrated Italian painter " Modigliani and many others. The community around him consisted of "people from over 50 nationalities, including those from countries whose names are hardly known," wrote Foujita 1936. "It is no wonder that this environment promotes unconventional ideas and creativity."

success and hurdles for Asian artists

There was also a commercial incentive: an exhibition in the commercial galleries and salons of the quarter could help artists to sell their works or to meet potential buyers. There was a local market for their art, and some of them were "very financially successful at that time," said Scott. "But Paris was a over -saturated market in terms of attention. Even if you got a commercial exhibition, that did not necessarily mean that you could earn money."

The forging of a social network like Foujita that was a “decisive factor” for her success, explained Scott. "Some (Asian) artists had a very good network of connections in Paris that could support them - people who knew them or art critics who promoted their work."

Nevertheless, solo exhibitions and support were unreachable for most of the migrated artists. In recognition of this fact, part of the exhibition in Singapore is devoted to the artisans who worked in the workshops of the decorative arts of France and played an important but largely anonymous role in the Art Deco movement. An estimated a quarter of the Indochinese workers who lived in Paris were painters, and a selection of their jewelry and art objects is issued as proof of this unnamed role.

The end of an era

The exhibition ends - like the time of international artists in France - with the Second World War. Those who returned to their homeland (or were moved in by their countries) often faced difficulties. Among them was Foujita, whose place in art history is complicated through his role in Japanese war engagement: he devoted his artistic practice during the war to glorify the efforts and the courage of the imperial army, which significantly impaired his reputation to France in 1950.

The reputation of Paris also changed. While in the post-war period, promising Asian creative people continued to come into the city (including Wu Guanzhong and the Abstract painter zao , which are among the best -selling names of the art market today), the city was no longer the epicenter of the art world. New York increasingly became the destination of young migrants, and the industry, according to the exhibition, became more fragmented and prepared the soil for today's art world.

"New places and centers gained its importance through the energy of decolonization by reaffirming their independence and cultural identity", can be read in the comments on the exhibition. "The post -war period marked the beginning of a less hierarchical global art world."

The exhibition " City of Others: Asian artists in Paris, 1920s-1940er ”can be seen in the National Gallery Singapore until August 17, 2025.