Japonisme

Otani Oniji II, dated 1794
Toshusai Sharaku (Japanese, active 1794–95)

In 1853 Japanese ports reopened to trade with the West – therefore, a lot of foreign imports flooded European shores. Among the foreign imports were woodcut prints by masters of the Ukiyo-e school which transformed Impressionist and Post- Impressionist art by showing that simple, everyday subjects from “the floating world” could be presented in beautiful, decorative ways.

Japan occupied a pavilion at the world’s Fair of 1867. At this time, Parisians saw their first formal exhibition of Japanese arts and crafts. Ships had already started to bring oriental bric-a-brac (including fans, kimonos, lacquers, bronzes and skills) into England and France.

Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, Edo period (1615–1868), 1856
Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)

James Whistler discovered Japanese prints in a Chinese tearoom near London Bridge and in a spice shop in Holland, some were being used as wrapping paper by Claude Monet. The earliest collectors of Japanese art in France were the two friends James Tissot and Edgar Degas. Degas didn’t like models dressed in kimonos and the conspicuous display of oriental props.

Reference:
Japonisme | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2013. Japonisme | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm.