Lucien Sergent The Return Of The Samurai And His Booty Japan 1869 Oil On Canvas

Lucien Sergent (1849-1904)

The return of the samurai and his spoils

Oil on canvas, signature lower right L Sergent and dated (18)69

55.5 x 46 cm

Relining, restoration to be redone.

Following the Universal Exhibition of 1867, where Japan presented for the first time a national pavilion with an artisanal farm, as well as a bourgeois house, built by Japanese craftsmen. Japan exhibits several thousand objects from its various artistic, artisanal and industrial productions. At the end of the exhibition, 1,300 of these objects were sold to the public. From then on, Japanese art began to be appreciated on a large scale and brought the fashion for Japonism to France. Then aged 20, Lucien Sergent was probably influenced by this exhibition and created our painting with this scene representing a samurai returning from war with his loot offering his wife a necklace. Many objects are represented: a fan, an okimono, a kabuto (traditional Japanese armor helmet), a lacquer, an emaki (painted scroll), jewelry...

Lucien-Pierre Sergent, born in Massy on 8 June 1849 and died in Paris on May 19, 1904 is a French painter known for his military art. He was a student of Théophile Vauchelet, Isidore Pils and Jean-Paul Laurens.