About the artist
Born in Paris, Paul Jacoulet grew up in Tokyo, where his father taught at Tokyo University. Fluent in French, Japanese and English, Jacoulet began to work as an interpreter in 1920. He created his first woodblock print in 1934. As an artist, Jacoulet was most productive between 1939 and 1960. During this time, he drew inspiration from his travels in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Many of his designs portray subjects in the traditional clothing of their home country. During World War II, Jacoulet moved to Karuizawa, where he waited out the war selling vegetables and poultry. With the end of the war, Jacoulet rapidly rose to fame - perhaps as the result of eager self-promotion - and garnered fans such as Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Pius XII. Jacoulet's work stands out as strikingly original in style, but also innovative in technique. Combining traditional woodblock printing methods with techniques he developed himself, he pushed the limits of his medium. With only 166 known works, Jacoulet prints are relatively rare and greatly sought after.