Eugénie O'Kin

Eugénie Jubin, known professionally as Eugénie O’Kin, was a French and Japanese artist born in Yokohama on May 13, 1880, and deceased in Nice in 1948. Known for her work with ivory and ceramics, O’Kin introduced traditional Japanese techniques into the field of modernist sculpture, for which she was celebrated by a public enamored with her as a figure of refined exoticism.

Biography

Early life Eugénie O’Kin was born to a Japanese mother, Yamanaka Tama, and a French father, Charles Marie Jubin, a businessman who emigrated to Japan around 1870 in order to establish a silk trade outpost, Growing up in this environment of cross-cultural exchange through her family's involvement in trading artisanal goods as well as during an unprecedented period of Japan's openness, young Eugénie reciprocated her uncle's fascination with art, a love which her parents encouraged. where she could further her craft as a ceramicist and solidify her bilingual abilities. left Eugénie O'Kin, Bonbonnière, c. 1912, carved, engraved, and painted ivory; gold studs. 2.6 cm x 5.5 cm. Paris, Musée D’Orsay. Eugénie O'Kin, Bouton de lotus, c. 1914, carved, engraved, and painted ivory; gold studs. 12.6 cm x 7.6 cm. Paris, Musée D'Orsay.

Discovery in Paris Shortly after the death of her father At the 1910 Salon, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs of Paris purchased one of her pieces, a cup made of an engraved animal horn and decorated with pearl and silver,

Travels in Asia With her new husband, Eugénie traveled throughout Asia from 1919 to 1921. These visits left a lasting mark on both artists, whose creations, both solo and collaborative, would reveal deep influences from other Asian traditions, particularly that of the Khmer tradition.

Return to France After returning to France with revitalized inspiration, the couple moved to the Montredon district of Marseille, the port of arrival for rubber and other imports from Asia, in 1923. The two would also enter into a collaboration, O’Kin providing materials for his exhibitions in return for an opportunity to have her work presented in his Collector's Hotel during the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts.

Legacy Though a virtuoso in her field, O'Kin's legacy, specifically that of her autonomous works, has been overshadowed by the career of her husband within art historical narratives. While much of Henri Simmen's success is owed to the techniques, sensibilities, and cultures to which he was exposed due to his relationship with O'Kin, her influence on his work is primarily only recognized in consideration of the stoppers and lids she created for his ceramic pieces. Rather than an accessory to the work of another artist, the work of Eugénie O'Kin truly served as the catalyst for the stylistic development of not only her husband, but also their modernist contemporaries who sought innovation by way of adopting and often appropriating techniques of other cultures to which they had not been previously exposed. With meticulous elegance and immense respect for the materials she worked with, O'Kin created a body of work which invites contemplation, reflection, and even criticism of the artistic exchanges between East and West during the emergence of Modernism.