pattern! color! design!

another element the west gleaned from japan we've discussed with regard to clothing, but now let's discuss it with regards to art: pattern! color! design! now you couldn't get enough.

yes, it's true, matisse was inspired by morocco, but permission had been given, or perhaps rules had been made:


"busy" had been thor- oughly re- defined; all-over color and pattern were now not only allowed --
they were practi- cally requ- ired!




of course this was all a measure of freedom, of change, of exploration.



it was embraced by painters, children's book illustrators, graphic designers, printmakers: the past, from japan, represented the future for the west.




the use of pattern and print appeared on cloth (graphically and in reality), of course, but suddenly as well were found wallpapers, and tilework, and rugs, and upholstery....

it was a way of flattening an area and enlivening it at the same time. speaking of the textiles featured in

woodcuts, siegfried wichmann, in japonisme, said, 'european artists at the end of the nineteenth century recognized their abstract potential,

ornamental vigour, and new colour combi- nations.' walter crane spoke of woodblock prints being art more about pattern than about anything else.