Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968)

This work is sold with a photo-certificate from Sylvie Buisson.


This work is a preparatory drawing for the costumes of Puccini's world renowned opera, Madame Butterfly when it was staged in 1950 at La Scala, Milan. As a famous Japanese artist freshly back from Japan and living in Paris, the Scala commissioned Foujita to not only create sketches for the costumes, but also draw the patterns for the fabrics (which he then dyed himself), and create the opera’s entire set design too. This particular representation of the opera proved to be very successful, being repeated six times at the Scala between the years of 1952 to 1971, and then touring abroad, most notably, at the National Opera in Vienna.