Japonisme

Japonisme is a French term denoting the widespread appeal and artistic impact of Japanese art and design among various Western European artists in the nineteenth century, subsequent to Japan's compelled re-engagement with international trade in 1858. The concept of Japonisme was initially articulated in 1872 by the French art critic and collector Philippe Burty.

Although its manifestations were arguably most prominent within the visual arts, its influence permeated architecture, landscape design, horticulture, and fashion. The performing arts also experienced this impact, with Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado serving as a notable illustration.

Commencing in the 1860s, ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese woodblock prints, emerged as a significant source of inspiration for numerous Western artists. These prints were originally produced for the domestic commercial market in Japan. While some prints had previously reached the West via Dutch trade networks, widespread European popularity for ukiyo-e prints did not materialize until the 1860s. Western artists were particularly captivated by their innovative application of color and distinctive compositional structures. Characteristic features of ukiyo-e prints included pronounced foreshortening and asymmetrical arrangements.

Japanese decorative arts, encompassing ceramics, enamels, metalwork, and lacquerware, exerted an influence in the West comparable to that of its graphic arts. Throughout the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japanese pottery achieved global export. Drawing upon a rich heritage of crafting samurai weaponry, Japanese metalworkers developed an extensive palette of colors through sophisticated techniques of alloying and finishing metals. The period from 1890 to 1910 marked the "golden age" of Japanese cloisonné enamel, during which unprecedented advancements in production were achieved. These artifacts became highly conspicuous across nineteenth-century Europe, showcased to millions at successive world's fairs and subsequently acquired by galleries and upscale retailers. Contemporary writings by critics, collectors, and artists conveyed significant enthusiasm for this emergent art form. Prominent collectors such as Siegfried Bing and Christopher Dresser exhibited and documented these creations. Consequently, Japanese aesthetic principles and thematic elements were reinterpreted and integrated into the creations of Western artists and artisans.

History

Seclusion (1639–1858)

For the majority of the Edo period (1603–1867), Japan maintained a policy of national seclusion, with only a single international port remaining operational. Tokugawa Iemitsu mandated the construction of Dejima, an artificial island situated off Nagasaki, to serve as Japan's exclusive point of entry for imports. The Dutch were the sole Westerners permitted to conduct trade with Japan; nevertheless, this limited interaction facilitated the transmission of Japanese artistic influences to the West. Annually, Dutch fleets arrived in Japan laden with Western commodities for exchange. Their cargo notably comprised numerous Dutch treatises on painting and various Dutch prints. Shiba Kōkan (1747–1818) was among the Japanese artists who engaged with these imported materials. Kōkan produced one of Japan's earliest etchings, a technique he acquired from an imported treatise. He subsequently integrated the linear perspective technique, also derived from a treatise, into his distinctive ukiyo-e styled paintings.

Early exports

Initially, Japan's principal exports comprised silver, which was proscribed after 1668, and gold, primarily in the form of oval coinage, which faced prohibition after 1763, followed by copper in bar form. Subsequently, Japanese exports diminished and transitioned towards artisanal products, including ceramics, hand fans, paper, furniture, swords, armor, mother-of-pearl items, folding screens, and lacquerware, all of which were already established export commodities.

Even during Japan's period of isolation, Japanese commodities were highly coveted luxury items among European aristocracy. Japanese porcelain manufacturing expanded significantly in the seventeenth century, following the relocation of Korean potters to the Kyushu region. These immigrants, along with their descendants and Japanese artisans, discovered kaolin clay deposits and initiated the production of superior quality ceramics. This fusion of diverse traditions fostered a unique Japanese industry, giving rise to distinctive styles like Imari ware and Kakiemon. These styles subsequently impacted European and Chinese ceramic artists. Porcelain exports received an additional impetus from the Ming-Qing transition, which disrupted Chinese porcelain production in Jingdezhen for several decades. Consequently, Japanese potters met the demand by producing porcelain tailored to European preferences. Porcelain and lacquered artifacts emerged as Japan's primary exports to Europe. While an opulent method of showcasing porcelain involved dedicating an entire room with extensive shelving for exotic pieces, acquiring a few items became increasingly accessible to a broader segment of the middle class. Noteworthy collectors of Japanese lacquerware include Marie Antoinette and Maria Theresa, whose collections are frequently displayed at the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles. The European emulation of Asian lacquer techniques is termed Japanning.

Re-opening (19th century)

During the Kaei era (1848–1854), following over two centuries of isolation, Japan started receiving visits from foreign merchant vessels of diverse origins. Subsequent to the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan concluded its prolonged national isolation, opening its borders to Western imports such as photography and printing technologies. This renewed trade accessibility led to the emergence of Japanese art and artifacts in Parisian and London curiosity shops. Japonisme originated as a widespread enthusiasm for collecting Japanese art, especially ukiyo-e prints. Among the initial examples of ukiyo-e were observed in Paris.

Concurrently, European artists actively sought alternatives to the rigid academic methodologies prevalent in Europe. Approximately in 1856, the French artist Félix Bracquemond discovered a copy of the sketchbook Hokusai Manga at the printing workshop of Auguste Delâtre. The years subsequent to this finding witnessed a surge in interest concerning Japanese prints. These prints were retailed in curiosity shops, tea warehouses, and more extensive commercial establishments. Retailers like La Porte Chinoise focused on the distribution of Japanese and Chinese imported goods. Notably, La Porte Chinoise became a magnet for artists such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Édouard Manet, and Edgar Degas, who derived artistic inspiration from these prints. This establishment, along with others, hosted gatherings that promoted the dissemination of knowledge concerning Japanese artistic practices and techniques.

Artists and Japonisme

Ukiyo-e prints constituted a primary Japanese influence on Western artistic expression. Western artists found inspiration in the distinctive utilization of compositional space, the planar flattening, and the abstract methodologies applied to color. A pronounced emphasis on diagonals, asymmetry, and negative space is discernible in the creations of Western artists who adopted elements from this aesthetic.

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh's fascination with Japanese prints commenced upon his discovery of illustrations by Félix Régamey, published in The Illustrated London News and Le Monde illustré. Régamey produced woodblock prints, emulating Japanese techniques, and frequently portrayed vignettes of Japanese daily existence. Van Gogh regarded Régamey as an authoritative reference for understanding Japanese artistic conventions and quotidian life. Commencing in 1885, Van Gogh transitioned from accumulating magazine illustrations, including those by Régamey, to acquiring ukiyo-e prints available in modest Parisian establishments. He subsequently shared these prints with his artistic peers and curated a Japanese print exhibition in Paris in 1887.

Van Gogh's Portrait of Père Tanguy (1887) depicts his paint dealer, Julien Tanguy. Van Gogh produced two distinct iterations of this portrait. Both renditions incorporate backgrounds adorned with Japanese prints by recognized artists such as Hiroshige and Kunisada. Drawing inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and their vivid color schemes, Van Gogh integrated a comparable chromatic intensity into his artistic output. He imbued Tanguy's portrait with brilliant hues, operating under the conviction that patrons had lost interest in monochromatic Dutch paintings and that multi-colored artworks would be perceived as contemporary and appealing.

Alfred Stevens

Alfred Stevens, a Belgian painter, emerged as a pioneering collector and admirer of Japanese art in Paris. His studio possessions vividly demonstrated his profound interest in Japanese and other exotic decorative items and furnishings. Stevens maintained close relationships with both Manet and James McNeill Whistler, sharing this early fascination with them. A significant number of his contemporaries developed similar enthusiasm, particularly following the 1862 International Exhibition in London and the 1867 International Exposition in Paris, events that marked the initial public display of Japanese art and artifacts.

Beginning in the mid-1860s, Japonisme became an integral component of numerous paintings by Stevens. Among his most renowned works influenced by Japonisme is La parisienne japonaise (1872). He produced multiple portraits depicting young women adorned in kimonos, and Japanese motifs are evident in many of his other canvases. Examples include the early La Dame en Rose (1866), which juxtaposes a stylishly attired woman within an interior setting with a meticulous portrayal of Japanese objects, and The Psyché (1871), where Japanese prints are prominently displayed on a chair, signifying his artistic dedication.

Edgar Degas

During the 1860s, Edgar Degas commenced acquiring Japanese prints from establishments such as La Porte Chinoise and various smaller Parisian print shops. The concurrent collecting activities of his peers provided him with an extensive range of inspirational material. Notably, a copy of Hokusai's Manga, which Bracquemond had obtained after encountering it in Delâtre's workshop, was among the prints presented to Degas. Degas is estimated to have incorporated Japonisme into his printmaking around 1875, evidenced by his distinctive compositional strategy of segmenting individual scenes with vertical, diagonal, and horizontal divisions.

Mirroring the thematic interests of numerous Japanese artists, Degas' prints frequently depict women and their quotidian activities. The unconventional placement of his female subjects and his commitment to realism in printmaking established a connection between his work and that of Japanese masters like Hokusai, Utamaro, and Sukenobu. For instance, in Degas' print Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery (1879–80), he employs a two-figure composition—one seated, one standing—a common arrangement in Japanese prints. Degas consistently utilized lines to generate depth and delineate spatial areas within his compositions. His most explicit borrowing is the depiction of a woman leaning on a closed umbrella, a motif directly adapted from Hokusai's Manga.

James McNeill Whistler

Japanese art first appeared in British exhibitions during the early 1850s. These displays showcased a diverse array of Japanese artifacts, encompassing maps, correspondence, textiles, and items from daily existence. Such exhibitions fostered a sense of national pride within Britain and contributed to establishing a distinct Japanese cultural identity, differentiated from the broader, generalized "Orient" classification.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, an American artist, predominantly practiced in Britain. In the late 19th century, Whistler progressively diverged from the Realist painting style favored by his contemporaries. He instead discovered simplicity and technical precision within the Japanese aesthetic. Rather than directly replicating particular artists or artworks, Whistler drew inspiration from overarching Japanese principles of articulation and compositional structure, which he subsequently incorporated into his own creations.

Artists Influenced by Japanese Art and Culture

Theater

The initial widely acclaimed theatrical productions portraying Asia originated in England and focused on Japan. The comic opera Kosiki, originally named The Mikado but retitled following objections from Japan, was composed in 1876. In 1885, Gilbert and Sullivan, seemingly less apprehensive about Japanese sensibilities, debuted their own Mikado. This comic opera achieved extraordinary popularity across Europe, with seventeen companies staging it 9,000 times within two years of its premiere. Upon its German translation in 1887, The Mikado maintained its status as Germany's most popular dramatic work throughout the 1890s. Following this widespread success, a rapid proliferation of comedies set in Asia and featuring humorous Asian characters emerged in both comic opera and dramatic forms.

Sidney Jones's opera The Geisha (1896) succeeded The Mikado as Europe's most popular Japanese-themed drama, introducing the geisha as a prominent stock character representing Japan. This figure became one of the "objects" that inherently symbolized Japan in Germany and across the Western world. A significant surge in geisha dramas occurred in Europe between 1904 and 1918, with Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly emerging as the most renowned. Puccini, reportedly deeply moved to tears by a 1900 staging of David Belasco's play of the same title, drew inspiration for his opera. The immense popularity of Madama Butterfly subsequently spawned numerous imitations, such as Madames Cherry, Espirit, Flott, Flirt, Wig-Wag, Leichtsinn, and Tip Top, all appearing around 1904 but quickly fading from prominence. Nevertheless, their collective impact was enduring, solidifying the geisha's status alongside scrolls, jade, and images of Mount Fuji as iconic representations of Japan in the West. Just as this human figure of the geisha was often reduced to the level of other symbolic objects in drama, Japanese performers touring Germany similarly served German playwrights in their efforts to revitalize German theater. Analogous to the utility of ukiyo-e in France, detached from any profound understanding of Japan, the Japanese acting and dancing troupes touring Europe furnished material for "a new way of dramatizing" on stage. Ironically, the widespread appeal and influence of these Japanese dramas significantly contributed to the Westernization of Japanese theater in general, and particularly to the pieces performed in Europe.

The revolving stage, an innovation of 18th-century Japanese Kabuki theater, was introduced to Western stages at the Residenz Theater in Munich in 1896, influenced by the prevailing Japonism. This marked the initial Japanese impact on German stage design. Karl Lautenschlager adopted the Kabuki revolving stage in 1896, and a decade later, Max Reinhardt utilized it for the premiere of Frank Wedekind's Frühlings Erwachen. The revolving stage quickly became a trend in Berlin. Another Kabuki stage adaptation favored by German directors was the Blumensteg, a stage extension projecting into the audience. European familiarity with Kabuki stemmed from travels to Japan, textual sources, and touring Japanese troupes. In 1893, Kawakami Otojiro and his acting company arrived in Paris, returning in 1900 and performing in Berlin in 1902. Kawakami's troupe presented two Westernized pieces, Kesa and Shogun, both performed without music and with significantly reduced dialogue, thus leaning towards pantomime and dance. Dramatists and critics promptly recognized these performances as a "re-theatricalization of the theater." Among the actors was Sada Yacco, Europe's first Japanese star, who influenced pioneers of modern dance like Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan; she performed for Queen Victoria in 1900 and achieved considerable European stardom.

Japanese Gardens

The aesthetic principles of Japanese gardens were introduced to the English-speaking world through Josiah Conder's seminal work, Landscape Gardening in Japan (published by Kelly & Walsh, 1893), which subsequently inspired the creation of the first Japanese gardens in the West. A second edition of this influential text was released in 1912. Conder's outlined principles have occasionally proven challenging to implement:

Robbed of its local garb and mannerisms, the Japanese method reveals aesthetic principles applicable to the gardens of any country, teaching, as it does, how to convert into a poem or picture a composition which, with all its variety of detail, otherwise lacks unity and intent.

Tassa (Saburo) Eida designed several influential gardens, including two for the Japan–British Exhibition in London in 1910 and one meticulously constructed over four years for William Walker, 1st Baron Wavertree. The latter garden remains accessible for public viewing at the Irish National Stud.

Samuel Newsom's 1939 publication, Japanese Garden Construction, proposed Japanese aesthetic principles as a remedy for Western rock garden design, which had independently emerged in the mid-19th century from the ambition to cultivate alpine plants in simulated scree environments. The Garden History Society reports that Japanese landscape architect Seyemon Kusumoto contributed to the creation of approximately 200 gardens across the United Kingdom. His notable projects included exhibiting a rock garden at the 1937 Chelsea Flower Show, designing a Japanese garden at the Burngreave Estate in Bognor Regis and Cottered in Hertfordshire, and developing courtyards at Du Cane Court in London.

Impressionist artist Claude Monet incorporated Japanese design elements into his Giverny garden, notably the bridge spanning the lily pond, a subject he depicted repeatedly. Within this painting series, his focus on specific details like the bridge or the lilies reflected an influence from traditional Japanese visual techniques prevalent in ukiyo-e prints, of which he possessed an extensive collection. Furthermore, he cultivated numerous indigenous Japanese plant species to enhance the garden's exotic ambiance.

Museums

In the United States, the allure of Japanese art led to the establishment of substantial collections by both private collectors and museums, which persist today and have profoundly impacted successive generations of artists. Boston emerged as a primary hub for this interest, likely spurred by Isabella Stewart Gardner, a prominent early collector of Asian art. Consequently, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, asserts possession of the most distinguished collection of Japanese art globally, outside of Japan. Additionally, the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery collectively maintain the largest Asian art research library in the United States, curating Japanese art alongside works by Whistler that demonstrate Japanese influence.

Gallery

Anglo-Japanese style

• Anglo-Japanese style
• Anime-influenced animation
• Arabist – "Arab" style
• Chinoiserie – similar Chinese influence on Western art and design
• David B. Gamble House
• Japanophilia
• Occidentalism – for Eastern views of the West
• Orientalism – Western romanticized depictions of Asian (more often Near Eastern) subject matter
• Turquerie
• Weeb
• Woodblock printing in Japan
• Woodcut
• Yamashiro Historic District

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

General and cited references

• Breuer, Karin (2010). Japanesque: The Japanese Print in the Era of Impressionism. New York: Prestel Publishing.Cate, Phillip Dennis; Eidelberg, Martin; Johnston, William R.; Needham, Gerald; Weisberg, Gabriel P. (1975). Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art 1854–1910. Kent State University Press.Earle, Joe (1999). Splendors of Meiji: Treasures of Imperial Japan: Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection. St. Petersburg, Florida: Broughton International. ISBN 1-874780-13-7. OCLC 42476594.Irvine, Gregory, ed. (2013). Japonisme and the Rise of the Modern Art Movement: The Arts of the Meiji Period: The Khalili Collection. New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-23913-1. OCLC 853452453.Lambourne, Lionel (2005). Japonisme: Cultural Crossings Between Japan and the West. New York: Phaidon.Ono, Ayako (2003). Japonisme in Britain: Whistler, Menpes, Henry, Hornel and Nineteenth-Century Japan. New York: Routledge Curzon.Slawson, David A. (1987). Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens. New York/Tokyo: Kodansha.Thomson, Belinda (2014). "Japonisme in the Works of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bernard and Anquetin". In Museum Folkwang (ed.). Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh… Japanese Inspirations. Folkwang/Steidl.Cluzel, Jean-Sébastien (editor), Adamson, John (translator). Japonisme and Architecture in France, 1550–1930 (Éditions Faton, 2022) ISBN 978-2-87844-307-3.
  • Cluzel, Jean-Sébastien (editor), Adamson, John (translator). Japonisme and Architecture in France, 1550–1930 (Éditions Faton, 2022) ISBN 978-2-87844-307-3.
  • Nash, Elizabeth R. Edo Print Art and Its Western Interpretations (PDF). Thesis.
  • Rümelin, Christian, and Ellis Tinios. The Japanese and French Print in the Era of Impressionism (2013)
  • Scheyer, Ernst. "Far Eastern Art and French Impressionism". The Art Quarterly 6#2 (Spring 1943): 116–143.
  • Weisberg, Gabriel P. "Reflecting on Japonisme: The State of the Discipline in the Visual Arts". Journal of Japonisme 1.1 (2016): 3–16.
  • Weisberg, Gabriel P. and Yvonne M. L. Weisberg (1990). Japonisme, An Annotated Bibliography.
  • Wichmann, Siegfried (1981). Japonisme: The Japanese Influence on Western Art in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Harmony Books.
  • Widar, Halen (1990). Christopher Dresser.
  • "Japonisme" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History
  • "Japonisme: Exploration and Celebration"
  • The Private Collection of Edgar Degas, fully digitized text from The Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries; contains essay "Degas, Japanese Prints, and Japonisme" (pp. 247–260)