Japonisme

A trend known as “Japonisme” emerged in Western Europe in the 1850s and 60s, particularly France. In 1853; two years after the ‘Crystal Palace’; the Japanese reopened their ports and began to trade with the west. As a result there were many Japanese imports that were sent to Europe. “Japonisme” describes the period in which Japanese art; especially woodcut prints; influenced western art. In 1862, a shop opened in Paris which sold Japanese prints made from woodblocks called “The Chinese Gate.”

In Paris, the best Japanese prints could be found. There were so many artists influenced by Japanese prints, for example van Gogh, Mary Cassatt, Gauguin, Whistler, Degas, Monet, Gustav Klimpt, and even the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The fact that these Japanese prints were foreign, unique and that they came from specific elements employed by Japanese painters was admired a lot by artists. One of these elements is the lack of distinction of shading in these Japanese prints. 

Manet like other artists, who were influenced by Japanese prints, began to break down distinctions between depths. In traditional European painting, the distinctions between depths are distinct, so much so that it appears three-dimensional at times. Japanese artists had no regards towards symmetry which was something that defined the western European art a lot.

ThoughArtHistory (2013) ThouArtHistory Available from: http://thouarthistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/japonisme.html [Accessed: 21st March 2013].