Eugenie O'kin
Eugenie O'kin Jubin, Landscape, pencil on paper

About the Item

Eugenie O'KIN, Eugenie JUBIN known as, Landscape Pencil and etching on paper Studio sale stamp on verso 46 x 28 cm original frame 65 x 46 cm Provenance: artist's studio sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, December 1987, Mtres Chambellad, Giafferi and Veyrac. Eugénie O'kin, a famous tablemaker of the early 20th century, was born in Yokohama (Japan) in 1880 to a Japanese mother and a French father. She later adopted the name "O'kin", evoking the exoticism of her homeland. As Japan opened up to the world, Eugénie O'kin developed an interest in the arts, and initially took up drawing. She reworked motifs found on fabrics, prints and ceramics. The influence of her non-European roots can be seen throughout her artistic production, which is described as "modernist". She met her husband Henri Simmen (1880-1963) while he was traveling in Japan and then settled in Paris around 1900. He taught her ceramics and introduced her to the art of tabletterie. The young artist sculpted small objects (buttons, combs, boxes, game pieces, etc.) in precious materials such as ivory, horn and ebony. She exhibited her work for the first time in 1907 at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon de la société nationale des beaux-arts and the Salon des artistes français. She met with great success. In 1910, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris bought her an engraved horn, pearl and silver bowl. The husband-and-wife team, with their distinct skills, regularly collaborate on pieces that left their mark on the decorative arts of the early 20th century. Eugénie O'kin made the sculpted ivory and ebony lids, sockets and pedestals that adorned Henri Simmen's ceramics. Decorator Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann also called on her services in the 1920s. He showcased her work in his famous Hôtel du Collectionneur, erected for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. In Eugénie O'kin's drawings, we find the stylization of form characteristic of her sculptural objects. Her research seems to complement each other with finesse and delicacy. The gradation that appears in the uncluttered landscape presented here seems to break down the volume of organic forms with flowing lines, reminiscent of Japanese drawing.

Creator:

Eugenie O'kin (1880 - 1948, Japanese, French)

Dimensions:

Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)Width: 11.03 in (28 cm)

Medium:

Pencil

Period:

Early 20th Century

Condition:

Sold in its original frame.

Gallery Location:

PARIS, FR