PAUL JACOULET WAS BORN IN PARIS AND WAS BROUGHT BY HIS PARENTS TO JAPAN AT THE AGE OF SIX. HE STUDIED CALLIGRAPHY, ART, MUSIC AND DANCE AND WAS A VERY TALENTED AND GIFTED STUDENT. IN ADDITION TO HIS NATIVE FRENCH, HE SPOKE JAPANESE AND ENGLISH FLUENTLY. IN 1929, PAUL JACOULET WENT ON HIS FIRST OF SEVERAL TRIPS TO FRENCH POLYNESIA, MICRONESIA AND OTHER SOUTH SEA ISLAND DESTINATIONS, IN THE TRADITION OF PAUL GAUGUIN. MANY, EXOTICALLY BEAUTIFUL, AND ANTHROPOLOGICALLY INTERESTING WORKS EMERGED AND SERVE AS A RECORD OF A LIFESTYLE THAT HAS LONG DISAPPEARED FROM THE REGION. PRIOR TO THIS FIRST TRIP, IN 1927-1928, HE CREATED THE CURRENT HANDPAINTED WORKS WHICH NOW HANG IN THE LADIES’ POWDER ROOM. PAUL JACOULET BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A MASTER, PRINT ARTIST IN 1934. HE WAS A PERSON WHO COULD APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF ALL CULTURES. HE CREATED MANY PRINTS USING CHINESE, KOREAN, MONGOLIAN AND AINU SUBJECTS IN ADDITION TO THOSE OF HIS, BELOVED JAPAN. DURING THE WAR MOST OF HIS WORKS PERISHED DUE TO FIRE. DURING THOSE TERRIBLE YEARS JACOULET FLED TO KARUIZAWA, THE CHOUEKE FAMILY FLED TO ARIMA. THIS WAS A TIME OF GREAT SCARCITY AND SUFFERING IN JAPAN. AFTER THE WAR, JACOULET WAS RECOGNIZED AS A CREATIVE GENIUS WHO COMBINED THE EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE TECHNIQUES AND SENSIBILITIES TO PRODUCE BEAUTIFUL AND SOPHISTICATED PRINTS OF UNMATCHED QUALITY. BOTH EZRA AND POLISSA CHOUEKE KNEW PAUL JACOULET, PERSONALLY. THE CHOUEKES AND GRACE AND CAESAR SASSOON OF TOKYO HAD OCCASIONS TO VISIT WITH PAUL JACOULET IN HIS TOKYO HOME AND STUDIO AND TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL ARTWORKS.