Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec lithograph poster of 1892

Japonism, or Japonisme, the original French term, which is also used in English, is a term for the influence of the arts of Japan on those of the West. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (ɑ̃ʁi dø tuluz loˈtʁɛk (24 November 1864 &ndash 9 September 1901 was a French painter, printmaker, draftsman Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media including ancient pottery sculpture in wood and bronze ink painting on silk and paper and a myriad of other types of works of This article refers to the cardinal direction for other uses see West (disambiguation. The word was first used by Jules Claretie in his book L'Art Francais en 1872 published in that year. ^[1] Works arising from the direct transfer of principles of Japanese art on Western, especially by French artists, are called japonesque. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

From the 1860s, ukiyo-e, Japanese wood-block prints, became a source of inspiration for many European impressionist painters in France and the rest of the West, and eventually for Art Nouveau and Cubism. "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th For the origins of the technique and non-artistic use see Woodblock printing; for the related technique invented in the 18th century see Wood engraving Impressionism was a 19th-century Art movement that began as a loose association of Paris -based Artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s Art Nouveau ( nu vo anglicised /ˈɑːt nuːvəu/ ( French for 'new art' also known as Jugendstil ( German for 'youth style' is an international Cubism was a 20th century Avant-garde Art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European Artists were especially affected by the lack of perspective and shadow, the flat areas of strong colour, the compositional freedom in placing the subject off-centre, with mostly low diagonal axes to the background.

History

Cover of the French magazine Le Japon artistique (1888) showing one of Hokusai's views of Mount Fuji

During the Kaei era (1848 – 1854), foreign merchant ships began to come to Japan. Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a was a Japanese Artist, Ukiyo-e painter and Printmaker of the Edo period. is the highest Mountain in Japan at.An Active volcano that last erupted in 1707–08 it straddles the boundary of Shizuoka and was a after Kōka and before Ansei. This period spanned the years from 1848 through 1854. Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Following the Meiji restoration in 1868, Japan ended a long period of national isolation and became open to imports from the West, including photography and printing techniques; in turn, many Japanese ukiyo-e prints and ceramics, followed in time by Japanese textiles, bronzes and cloisonné enamels and other arts came to Europe and America and soon gained popularity. The, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan 's political and social structure Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th Cloisonné, an ancient Metalworking technique is a multi-step enamel process used to produce Jewelry, Vases and other decorative items

Japonism started with the frenzy to collect Japanese art, particularly print art (ukiyo-e), of which the first samples were to be seen in Paris. Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media including ancient pottery sculpture in wood and bronze ink painting on silk and paper and a myriad of other types of works of "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th About 1856, the French artist Félix Bracquemond first came across a copy of the sketch book Hokusai Manga at the workshop of his printer; they had been used as packaging for a consignment of porcelain. Félix Bracquemond (1833 in Paris – 1914 in Sèvres) was a French impressionist painter and Etcher. The is a collection of sketches of various subjects by the Japanese artist Hokusai. In 1860 and 1861 reproductions (in black and white) of ukiyo-e were published in books on Japan. Baudelaire wrote in a letter in 1861: "Quite a while ago I received a packet of japonneries. I've split them up among my friends. . ", and the following year La Porte Chinoise, a shop selling various Japanese goods including prints, opened in the rue de Rivoli, the most fashionable shopping street in Paris. Rue de Rivoli is one of the most famous streets of Paris, a commercial street whose shops include the most fashionable names in the world ^[1]In 1871 Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a one-act opera, La princesse jaune to a libretto by Louis Gallet, in which a Dutch girl is jealous of her artist friend's fixation on an ukiyo-e woodblock print. Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (/ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s/ (9 October 1835 &ndash 16 December 1921 was a French Composer, Organist, conductor, and Louis Gallet (1835&ndash1898 was an inexhaustible French writer of operatic librettos plays romances memoirs pamphlets and innumerable articles who is remembered above all

At first, despite Braquemond's initial contact with one of the classic masterpieces of ukiyo-e, most of the prints reaching the West were by contemporary Japanese artists of the 1860s and 1870s, and it took some time for Western taste to access and appreciate the greater masters of older generations.

Van Gogh, The Blooming Plum Tree (after Hiroshige), 1887

At the same time, many American intellectuals maintained that Edo prints were a vulgar art form, unique to the period and distinct from the refined, religious, national heritage of Japan known as Yamato-e (大和絵, pictures from the Yamato period, e. was a Japanese Ukiyo-e artist and one of the last great artists in that tradition Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Sculpture of the United States Visual arts of the United States refers to the history of Painting and Visual art in the United States. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 Yamato-e (大和絵 is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang dynasty paintings and developed in the late Heian period. g. those of Zen masters Sesshu and Shubun). or often also simply Sesshū, 1420-1506 was one of the most prominent masters of Suibokuga (ink painting and a Rinzai Zen Buddhist Tensho Shubun (周文 (1414 &ndash 1463 was a Japanese painter in the Muromachi period and a Zen Buddhist monk and - for some time - abbot at the

Fashionable young women inspect a Japanese screen, in a painting by James Tissot, ca 1869-70

French collectors, writers, and art critics undertook many voyages to Japan in the 1870s and 1880s, leading to the publication of articles about Japanese aesthetics and the increased distribution of Edo era prints in Europe, especially in France. James Jacques Joseph Tissot ( October 15, 1836 &ndash August 8, 1902) was a French painter. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Among them, the liberal economist Henri Cernuschi the critic Theodore Duret (both in 1871 – 1872), and the British collector William Anderson, who lived for some years in Edo and taught medicine. Henri Cernuschi (1821 in Milan - 12 May 1896 in Menton) was an Italian Politician and Economist. Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year William Anderson or Bill Anderson may refer to many people in various fields Arts and entertainment Bill Anderson (country music (b literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the (Anderson's collection has been acquired by the British Museum. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. ) Several Japanese art dealers subsequently resided in Paris, such as Tadamasa Hayashi and Iijima Hanjuro. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city was a Japanese art dealer who introduced traditional Japanese art such as Ukiyo-e to Europe The Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878 presented many pieces of Japanese art. The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from May 1 though to November 10, 1878

Artists and movements

Van Gogh - La courtisane (after Eisen), 1887.

Japanese artists who had a great influence included Utamaro and Hokusai. (ca 1753 - 1806 (his name was archaically romanized as Outamaro) was a Japanese Printmaker and painter and is considered one of the greatest was a Japanese Artist, Ukiyo-e painter and Printmaker of the Edo period. Curiously, while Japanese art was becoming popular in Europe, at the same time, the bunmeikaika (文明開化, "Westernization") led to a loss in prestige for the prints in Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Artists who were influenced by Japanese art include Manet, Pierre Bonnard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Mary Cassatt, Degas, Renoir, James McNeill Whistler (Rose and silver: La princesse du pays de porcelaine, 1863-64), Monet, van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, Paul Gaugin, Aubrey Beardsley and Klimt. Pierre Bonnard (3 October 1867 &ndash 23 January 1947 was a French painter and Printmaker, a founding member of Les Nabis. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (ɑ̃ʁi dø tuluz loˈtʁɛk (24 November 1864 &ndash 9 September 1901 was a French painter, printmaker, draftsman Mary Stevenson Cassatt ( May 22, 1844 &ndash June 14, 1926) was an American painter and Printmaker. Pierre-Auguste Renoir ( February 25, 1841 &ndash December 3, 1919) was a French Artist who was a leading painter in Claude Monet ( French klod mɔnɛ also known as Oscar-Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet (14 November 1840 &ndash 5 December 1926 was a founder Camille Pissarro ( July 10 1830 &ndash November 13 1903) was a French Impressionist painter. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903 was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. Gustav Klimt (July 14 1862 – February 6 1918 was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau Some artists, such as Georges Ferdinand Bigot, even moved to Japan because of their fascination with Japanese art. Georges Ferdinand Bigot, born on 7 April 1860 in Paris, died on 10 October 1927 in, was French cartoonist illustrator and artist

Although works in all media were influenced, printmaking was not surprisingly particularly affected, although lithography, not woodcut, was the most popular medium. Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper. Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface For the origins of the technique and non-artistic use see Woodblock printing; for the related technique invented in the 18th century see Wood engraving The prints and posters of Toulouse-Lautrec can hardly be imagined without the Japanese influence. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (ɑ̃ʁi dø tuluz loˈtʁɛk (24 November 1864 &ndash 9 September 1901 was a French painter, printmaker, draftsman Not until Félix Vallotton and Paul Gaugin was woodcut itself much used for japonesque works, and then mostly in black and white. Félix Edouard Vallotton ( December 28 1865 – December 29 1925) was a Swiss painter and printmaker associated with Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903 was a leading Post-Impressionist painter.

Whistler was important in introducing England to Japanese art. Paris was the acknowledged center of all things Japanese and Whistler acquired a good collection during his years there.

Several of van Goghs's paintings imitate ukiyo-e in style and in motif. For example, Le Père Tanguy, the portrait of the proprietor of an art supply shop, shows six different ukiyo-e in the background scene. He painted The Courtesan in 1887 after finding an ukiyo-e by Kesai Eisen on the cover of the magazine Paris Illustré in 1886. At this time, in Antwerp, he was already collecting Japanese prints. ||-||-||-||} Antwerp ( Dutch:, French: Anvers) is a City and Municipality in Belgium and the capital of the

In terms of music, one can say that Giacomo Puccini used Japonism in Madama Butterfly, and later in Turandot. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta The Mikado was inspired by the Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge, London. Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of Librettist W The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a Comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and Libretto by W

There were many characteristics of Japanese art that influenced these artists. In the Japonisme stage, they were more interested in the asymmetry and irregularity of Japanese art. Japanese art consisted of off centered arrangements with no perspective, light with no shadows and vibrant colors on plane surfaces. These elements were in direct contrast to Roman-Greco art and were embraced by 19th century artists, who believed they freed the Western artistic mentality from academic conventions.

Ukiyo-e, with their curved lines, patterned surfaces and contrasting voids, and flatness of their picture-plane, also inspired Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau ( nu vo anglicised /ˈɑːt nuːvəu/ ( French for 'new art' also known as Jugendstil ( German for 'youth style' is an international Some line and curve patterns became graphic clichés that were later found in works of artists from all parts of the world. These forms and flat blocks of color were the precursors to abstract art in modernism.

Van Gogh - Portrait of Pere Tanguy
Example of ukiyo-e influence in Western art

Japonism also involved the adoption of Japanese elements or style across all the applied arts, from furniture, textiles, jewellery to graphic design.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Colta F. Ives, "The Great Wave: The Influence of Japanese Woodcuts on French Prints", 1974, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN 0-87099-098-5

• thesis: Edo print art and its Western interpretations (pdf)

See also

• Anglo-Japanese style
• Chinoiserie - the collecting of art objects from China
• Orientalism - Western pictures in "oriental" style
• Arabist - "Arab" style
• Occidentalism - for Eastern Views of the West
• Woodblock printing in Japan
• Woodcut
• ukiyo-e

External links

• "Japonisme" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History
• Influence on Vincent van Gogh under header "An overview"
• "Orientalism, Absence, and Quick~Firing Guns:The Emergence of Japan as a Western Text"
• "Japonisme: Exploration and Celebration"