BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – Twenty-two bids were logged on a Japanese mixed media on paper signed Foujita at Nye & Company’s July 8 sale until a local private collector walked away with the work for $49,200. The auction house said the artwork, with a $1,5/2,500 estimate, was probably by Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (Japanese, 1886-1968) and it measured 13 by 17½ inches.

The artwork came from the estate of Cornelia and Michael Bessie of Old Lyme, Conn. Cornelia was the daughter of gallerist Kate Schaeffer of Shaeffer Galleries, New York City.

“It was a great gallery,” said auctioneer John Nye. “The Bessie collection was fresh to the market and Foujita is a highly desirable and collectible artist. The work had been out of circulation with good provenance – that’s why it did so well.”

Foujita lived an extremely colorful life as an artist, traveling from Tokyo to Paris to Latin America and back to Japan. He married five times. His market has seen a resurgence of late, with a record price for the artist’s work at auction hitting £7.1 million in 2018.

For information, www.nyeandcompany.com or 973-984-6900.