Toshio BANDO (1895-1973) Thistles, oil on canvas, signed lower right, label on back: n*17, 33 x 24 cm. Note : Toshio Bando arrived in France in July 1922 and, like his contemporary and elder painter Micao Kono and the young Ruytchi Souzouki, joined the ranks of the Montparnasse school, benefiting from the "immediate and unfailing friendship and support of Foujita" with whom he stayed for a time at 5, rue Delambre before moving permanently, successively between 1922 and 1925, to 23, rue Oudinot, 20bis, rue Boissonnade, 207, boulevard Raspail, 22, rue Daguerre and then, choosing to move away from Montparnasse, to 19, rue de la Fontaine in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine. It was through his life, at that time linked to that of Foujita, that Toshio Bando met Kiki de Montparnasse - with whom he maintained an ongoing letter-writing relationship - and Man Ray.