Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960) was the only son of French parents. The family went to Japan in 1906 and Jacoulet remained there until after the Second World War. He also travelled extensively in Korea and the South Pacific Islands. In the 1920s he took up painting, working in the style of the Japanese ukiyo-e prints, and later made woodcut prints himself, working with professional block cutters and printers. His style is a hybrid of Western and Japanese styles, and his subjects are the people of Japan, Korea, China and South Seas. He often featured indigenous people in traditional dress.