French artist Paul Jacoulet arrived in Japan in 1899 and remained there for most of his life. He travelled to Korea, China and Micronesia on numerous occasions to produce portraits of the inhabitants. Through his prints, watercolours and drawings, the artist depicted the men and women he encountered through an intimate, aesthetic and ethnographic perspective.

This exhibition brings together 80 drawings, sketches and exceptional prints gifted to the museum by Ms. Thérèse Inagaki, the artist's adopted daughter, in addition to a set of wooden dies used for the preparation of prints, old photographs from the museum's collections and major French public collections and multimedia programmes specially produced for the exhibition.

Several overarching themes will help visitors navigate his abundant and singular work: the artist-ethnographer's vision of an everyday and intimate elsewhere, the representation of tattoos and adornments as well as the erotic nature of certain portraits.

This exhibition was on display at the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac from 26 February to 19 May 2013 and at Musée de Tahiti et des Iles – Te Fare Manaha, Tahiti, from September 7th to December 10th 2017.