Kyoto Lectures

Kyoto still preserves its ancient cultural tradition as one of Japan's major academic centers and a meeting place for scholars from around the world. Organized in collaboration with the École Française d’Extrême-Orient and the Institute for Research in Humanities at Kyoto University, the Kyoto Lectures offer specialists in East Asian cultures and societies the opportunity to present their ongoing research results in Kyoto.
Asian Artists in 1920s–1940s Paris

Kyoto Lectures

Asian Artists in 1920s–1940s Paris

Japanese Engagement under the French Colonial Empire 

Inaga Shigemi

February 24th, 2026 18:00

This lecture is related to the groundbreaking exhibition, City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s, which was held at the National Gallery Singapore in 2025. The talk will focus on Japanese artists in relation to other Asians active in the French capital during the Art Déco period (1925) and the Exposition coloniale (1931). It will address questions such as: What challenges did they face to cope with the Parisian art market at the margins of the École de Paris? What was their destiny? How and why was Léonard Foujita, for example, singled out among his compatriots?

Inaga Shigemi is professor emeritus at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies and the Graduate University for Advanced studies. His main publications include Le Crépuscule de la peinture (1997), L’Orient de la peinture (1999), Painting on the Edge (2014), and In Search of the Haptic Plasticity (2024).

 

This hybrid lecture will be held on site (registration required in advance from here) and via Zoom.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84071262659

Meeting ID: 840 7126 2659