L'Homme Accroupi, Chinois

Translated as 'The Crouching Chinese Man,' this figure study belongs to Jacoulet's sustained engagement with the peoples of East Asia and the Pacific, whose portraits form the core of his printed oeuvre. The subject is depicted in a low, compact posture, a compositional choice that concentrates attention on the figure's face, hands, and garment details. Jacoulet approached his sitters with an anthropological attentiveness, recording regional dress, physiognomy, and posture with a precision that distinguishes his work from the more conventionalized bijin-ga tradition. The close-cropped format, typical of his portraiture, allows the carver's fine linework defining facial features and fabric texture to dominate. Rich, muted tones in the clothing contrast with the warmth of the skin, achieved through the bokashi shading and layered pigment application that characterize his collaboration with his Japanese printing atelier.