a tale of peacocks-part 2

ascinating, sarcastic, brilliant, argumentative, genius, james mcneill whistler brought to the art world new perspectives, new inspiration, and new headaches.

i get sad reading the reviews he got, excerpts of which are included in his collected papers, the gentle art of making enemies. "another crop of mr. whistler's little jokes." "so far removed from any accepted canons of art as to be beyond the understanding of an ordinary mortal." and on and on and on......

but the arrogant if insecure artist wrote letters to the editor combating these reviews just as endlessly.
he didn't limit his fights to those with critics. he was a man who knew what was right, and anyone else be damned. when hired to do a simple assist at room decoration he instead repainted the entire room, including over leather walls, making of it exactly what it should be. unfortunately, the owner of the house disagreed, and refused to pay whistler the total agreed amount. petulantly, and yet with glory, this grand peacock mural, inspired by utamaro's print, was created for the room, parodying he and the owner: the proud and the pauper. (more on this to come)

and in doing so created one of art nouveau's most prevalent symbols.

a tale of peacocks-part 1

utamaro kitigawa died of a broken heart. at least this is what some of his biographers say, though none of them seem to agree on much.

this is his print of himself painting a ho-o bird (a phoenix) on a wall in a "green house," a house of pleasure, as the courtesans look on. they were his favorite subject (with nature studies being a close second), and his most popular productions. his eye for female beauty seemed unparalleled in the japanese art world, and yet it was subject in his paintings which got him arrested, jailed, and eventually broken. the stories of the arrest vary widely, but all include concubines being pictured elsewhere than they were legally allowed to be pictured (if indeed they were allowed to be pictured at all).

still, his work was embraced in europe, and numerous artists credited him for having influenced their work in profound ways.

to understand how this print will fit into this narrative, you will have to know that whistler saw it.

japonisme kitch

from the ephemera society, "With the opening of Japan to trade in 1854, the American market was flooded with goods from the Far East. Later on, exhibits of Japanese goods at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 in Philadelphia and the success of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta The Mikado as well as New York’s exhibit The Japanese Village, both in 1885, exposed more Americans to Japanese wares and design.

Japanese novelty stores in major cities in the 1870s made goods
more accessible and cheaper for customers. American companies
also incorporated Japanese imagery in their advertising to cash
in on the craze.

This selection of trade cards shows a wide variety of products being advertised, using Japanesque illustration and characters."

[at least in neither of these has the artist tried to make the women look japanese. we were no better at making the japanese look japanese that the japanese are at making americans look american. 'nother topic... later....]

in an interview with kimi kodani hill, granddaughter of chiura obata, a well-known artist from this period, she said, "Now, as you know the 1910's, 1920's, the blatant prejudice shown against the Japanese community was something that all the Japanese- American community had to deal with. And my grandparents were no exception. My grandfather, obata, had physical encounters on the streets of San Francisco because he'd be walking down the street and he'd be hit or attacked or spat upon simply because of his ethnicity. And yet ironically at the same time there was this interest in japonisme or the 'Oriental Arts,' and stores like Gump's and the City of Paris all commissioned him to decorate their Oriental rooms to sell their Asian arts."

letter to theo, 24 septembre, 1888

"...If we study Japanese art, we discover a man who is undeniably wise, philosophical and intelligent, who spends his time - doing what? Studying the distance from the earth and the moon? No! Studying
the politics of Bismarck? No! He studies … a single blade of grass.
But this blade of grass leads him to draw all the plants - then the seasons, the grand spectacle of landscapes, finally animals, then
the human figure. That is how he spends his life, and life is too short
to do everything.

"...come now, isnt it almost a true religion which these simple Japanese teach us, who live in nature as though they themselves were flowers. And you cannot study Japanese art, it seems to me, without becoming much gayer and happier, and we must return to nature in spite of our education and our work in a world of convention."

vincent william van gogh, to his brother theo, 24 september 1888

hiroshige's wood-cut flowering plumtrees at kameido (1857)
and vincent van gogh's oil version (1887)

berlin-tokyo/tokyo-berlin

'the japanese painter,' by adolf von menzel, was unusual for him; it's impres- sionistic though he stated he disliked impres- sionism and wished to paint painting more real than photographs. he has managed to capture, perhaps, the spirit of east meeting west better than a photograph ever could.

interesting that he called this what he did as the painter appears to be all but an afterthought. what is von menzel, whose main claim to fame are his portraits of frederick the great, saying with this?

on exhibition until october 3, 2006 at the new national gallery in berlin. show title: berlin-tokyo/tokyo-berlin.

nineteenth-century art worldwide

this tiffany vase is from an amazing online journal, 'nineteenth-century art worldwide,' which offers articles and reviews of the circle of traditions of which japonisme is a part, written by the people who have made it a field of study today.

try doing a search for 'japonisme'

more ricketts mikado costumes

the mikado

while the mikado, 1885, fanned the flames of japonisme, as much as it was itself a flame, it had not dimmed throughout the twentieth century.
the wonderful artist, designer, and maker of books, charles ricketts, designed a whole new costume scheme in the mid-twenties, right about the time when w. russell flint did the breathtaking illustrations.

this is interesting to me because we have entered a different realm here; not sure i know how to talk about it yet, but i'll try: these are not examples of artists being inspired, informed, by the newness of what they're seeing but rather maybe by the novelty. i'm not lumping this in with using women in kimono to sell corsets or whatever; here there are truly artistic results. but it is a place where "the japanese" is "the other" that we can use on "us."

nor am i selling this as politically incorrect. i for one have been grateful most of my life for what the japonisme creators brought into the world. but it is one thing to be moved by something implicit in a culture's culture, and to elaborate upon something external is something else.

it's been called the punch version of japonisme.

mother and child

by completing an entire series of prints on mothers with their children, utamaro kitagawa, one of mary cassatt's favorite japanese printmakers, gave her permission to do the same. this had not been seen as a valid subject for fine art until this time.

daniel pipes, in a 1992 copy of society magazine, said,




"Outstanding artists directly affected by the wood blocks included Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, Théodore Duret, Paul Gaugin, van Gogh, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edvard Munch, Pierre Renoir, and, above all, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Toulouse-Lautrec derived his subject matter directly from Japanese models; his posters of the Parisian demi-monde, for example, resembled Kitagawa Utamaro's courtesans of Tokyo's pleasure quarters. Further, he imitated the Japanese in the heavy use of shadowless pure colors and other elements of design, and in his print-making technique. James Abbott McNeill Whistler had an important role in popularizing Japanese styles in the United States. Impressionists did not shy from crediting Japan. Duret called the Japanese "the first and finest impressionists," while van Gogh dubbed Japanese art 'true religion.'"

roses in france

sarah frieseke again, and again by guy rose,
'the green parasol.'















and also by rose, also in giverney, 'marguerite,' wearing the same kimono.

american impressionists in giverney

guy rose and frederick carl frieseke, both american impressionists, from california and from michigan, loved the kimono and parasol look women were wearing that year. in fact on the french countryside at giverney, where both lived for many years, both painted frieseke's wife one summer afternoon.

("through the vines," frederick carl frieseke"; on the river," guy rose)

walter klemm was born in 1883














kono bairei did his series of 100 birds in 1881

or adoration?

we have keika hasegawa making one of his 100 chrysanthemums prints in 1893 on the left,












and on the right we have eugene seguy making his lithographs of chrysanthemums in 1904.

inspiration?

i have selected these two images for a couple of reasons: that this may be the hokusai that whistler saw that inspired his own balcony painting, for one thing, and for another, to note that whistler's painting, in addition to featuring the wearing of kimono, also features a common setting from the japan- ese prints, has it's own little "fuji" in the back- ground (hokusai's is from his '36 views of fuji' series), and has the main figure, in fact most of the company, with her back to the viewer.

japan changes too

david asked here about the changes that went in the opposite direction. i don't know about that as much, but see that there's an exhibition at boston's mfa that bridges the gap somewhat:

Tradition and Transformation:
Japanese Art 1860-1940
Friday, January 27, 2006 -
Thursday, November 9, 2006

"Immediately following the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry’s “black ships” in 1853, Japan cast aside its self-imposed isolation from the international community and embarked upon an unprecedented program of modernization. The nation, under the leadership of Emperor Meiji, embraced not only Western social and political institutions but also artistic ones. For some artists however, the pace of change was too sudden and they reasserted the importance of traditional themes and styles. This exhibition in the Japanese Painting Galleries explores the creative tensions that often led to such exciting syntheses of East and West."

this was called the taisho period, and there was an exhibition circulating last year called "taisho chic" the catalogue of which is still available. (the most images i could find from that show were here. it's a pdf.) i also found a gallery (where i found the above image) that seems to have a number of interesting pieces from this period.

the question was also somewhat addressed here.

(Miki Suizan, Fair Wind, 1933)

lacquerwork on japonisme blog: pt. 1

i found this wonderful piece, "a gorgeous [lacquer- work] box by the great Hon'ami Koetsu," on an equally wonderful blog, japanese-arts, which is fascinating, but i hope he finishes it! we will no doubt see this pattern again, in silverwork from france, i presume.

the japonisme fashion

sure, everyone is familiar with monet's wife adorning the red kimono and gesturing her fan, and standing on the hill, several times, with the para- sol; you've probably seen van gogh's copying, transliterating, japanese prints; we've seen whistler's portrait in the peacock room (see in japonisme links, below) but have we seen this one, also nearly an exact reproduction, save for style? (the title of the piece is 'variations in flesh colour and green: the balcony.' in 1889 harper's called it, 'a japanese fantasy realized on the banks of the grey thames.')

and there are many other impressionists, american and euopean, who followed this trend, and we'll see more of them in an ongoing way.



of course it must be said: japan-inspired clothing became the rage as well, so to some extent, the painters were painting what they saw. on the other hand, some painters kept a kimono in the studio for use with whichever model. when you see the same robe in two paintings, two different models, that's what you're seeing. (i also find myself wondering if the hairstyles are fashioned after the japanese as well.)

the japonisme craze

in addition to japan's influence, on the deepest levels, on painting, design, architecture, music, literature, theater, dance, etc., something else happened: japonisme was cool, hip, what everyone was either into or parodied.

both high- and low-brow culture embraced the "new" aesthetic in numerous ways. on the first hand, as seen in the example in the previous entry, and here, many european and american painters began to work japanese items into their portraits. japanese prints and decorative screens adorned the backgrounds of paintings, women held fans, wore kimono, carried parasols. even when direct references were not made, thematically one might see lotus and other japanese symbols as motif.

"a poetic fantasy"

"Japonisme brought to the West a new coloration, a
new system of decoration, and . . . a poetic fantasy in the creation of the art object." --Edmond de Goncourt
an interesting review and slide show from the washington post on two recent books on japonisme
(the blue dress; alfred stevens)

frank lloyd wright

"This exhibition explores architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s great passion for Japanese woodblock prints, which he collected and sold throughout his career. While highlighting works by some of the most celebrated Japanese print artists from the 18th and 19th centuries, this exhibition also offers insight into this source of inspiration for Wright’s architecture."

not only wright, but monet, van gogh, and many others, collected and were inspired by the influx of
japanese arts and crafts.

japonisme: craftsman style

greene and greene, from pasadena, california, remain the architects perhaps most identified with craftsman-style design of homes. with the stonework, the patterns in the stained glass, and the methods of woodwork, structurally as well as aesthetically, these homes owe much inspiration to the japanese.

these stained glass doors are from the entry hall of the robert t. blacker estate in pasadena, 1907-1909, and are on display at
the de young museum in san francisco.

poetry & haiku

the influx of japanese art, craft, and idea is most commonly known for what it
did to art and craft in the west. idea has perhaps not been recognized as clearly. but in a culture where poetry had always rhymed, the japanese influence was profound.

europa 1900

and a lovely mackintosh-styled site, it is

by any other name

i guess we haven't yet mentioned many of the other names or styles that are japonisme, in one way or another, in disguise. Of course art nouveau, but also jugendstil, liberty style, arts and crafts, and many more.

the parts of japanese style elaborated on might be different in each, but a little research and the secrets are handed up easily.

how else does a japanese family crest, usagi, become a vase made by Marie de Hoa LeBlanc in 1902, a member Newcomb Pottery in louisiana, and expect to draw $75,000 at auction?

ornament

(Paul et Henri VEVER, peigne Gui, 1900, corne, or, perles, émail. musée des arts decoratifs, paris. Bira-Bira Kanzashi Hair Ornament, brass, gilded, silver, coral; Meiji period (1868-1912), japan.)

japonisme: so many faces

i would really love to try to describe all the different kind of things that get labeled with that term, by someone or other. i would like to illustrate each with an example, but this sounds too ambitious for one sitting, so i'll just get started and add things as i go along.

• at a most basic level what i have learned are the keystones that marked japonisme were these: blocks of flat color, blocks of intricate pattern (cloth, wallpaper), asymmetrical layout, an unusual framing, and a stronger than previously seen in the countries where it occurred: an emphasis on nature and daily, domestic life. these were the features in the japanese prints that most notably were adapted by the new art, l'art nouveau.

• another whole side of that happened at that moment, with regard to the art world only, to start with, was the philosophy that accompanied the new imports. for the first time, a concept of the present moment as having value in and of itself, of the deep importance of the simple play of light across the arm of the woman at the table across the way, or off the water, the simple sound of a bird in a tree, the serious wonder of a mother bathing a child: these things unheard-of in western art were now embraced. impressionism was born.

yes, there were other factors: a reaction to the industrial revolution, the arrival of the affordable train trip "out to nature" (which was, of course, ironically, part of that very revolution), new scientific discoveries into how humans see, even the invention of the portable painting kit, but the very number one thing without which the movement never would have started: that someone should say, in a place where westerners would hear it, essentially, "be here now."


(the two images here are jane avril by toulouse-lautrec, and the hermit thrush by thomas dewing. can you hear it singing?)

more bindings inspired by the orient

and one last binding, for the moment anyway (there are some exquisite covers for some lafcadio hearn books i have to dig up from my files somewhere....), from another stunning collection here.

the vienna secession and wiener werkstätte

not that paris, that art nouveau alone, were influenced by the influx of japanese goods. many artists developed signatures or marks to mimic those used by the japanese. toulouse-lautrec's is famous (click for the exhibition):

but here are eight more. eight??! must be a group show or something? clicking on the image will take you to index. it's a fascinating collection, and the introduction is interesting as well.

japonisme: books part I

i was thrilled to find an online bookseller with an entire section devoted to japonisme! handsome books, and the descriptions of the books, the authors, the designers and illustrators, and of japonisme itself, are priceless.

here is an illustration by sanchi ogawa for a book called japanese fairy tales, by teresa pierce williston. this brings me to a question to which i don't yet know the answer: why were children's books, around the world, so quick to embrace japonisme? maybe i'll learn that while i do this blog.

this beautiful cover is from c. yarnall abbott. while the previous example was a purely japanese scene done in a somewhat western manner, this image is clearly directly inspired by the japanese print: both subject and style.









this as well is another stunning example of the western hand borrowing from the east. even the lettering is designed not so much to imitate japanese calligraphy as to imitate japanese architecture!

the book, from 1902, is designed by sarah wyman whitman.

these and many more can be seen at the bookstore website, at the bookstore itself, and, along with many other booksellers, on ebay (user name: handbooks). i've discovered that ebay is a wonderful way to see old illustrated books; many sellers even display the entire book's illustrations: what a joy!

from west to east, too

there were western influences on the japanese during this period as well. leaving aside for the moment all of these but those of some printmakers, i would like to point to two: hiroshi yoshida and yumeji takehisa .

hiroshi yoshida studied in the west, and in doing so was influenced in his use of color and perspective. & this is the grand canyon!

yumeji takehisa, i don't know as much about as yet, but though he has employed some trademark japanese print techniques, pattern, blocks of flat color, still this print appears to have more in common with the fashion illustrations in vogue than with ukiyo-e. (of course, this also illustrates how much the illustrators for vogue were influenced by the japanse!)

what is japonisme? part I

for the last several days i have been scouring the internet for resources and find there's little agreement to anything (not that this should come as a surprise), mainly, the definitions, but also the history behind it, the range of its influence, etc. so today i will do my best to lay out what i have learned japonisme to be, and will return often, i'm sure, to correct, amend, edit and embellish, etc., and with your help perhaps arrive at something definitive.

in 1854 japan's doors were opened to trade by admiral matthew perry and his black ships. what followed was nothing short of life-altering. not only would art and design be changed, but music, theater, dance, religion, and philosophy as well.

there were two elements coming from japan at that time that comprised the strongest influencing factors: calligraphy and buddhism; both underlay everything else, and both had been borrowed from china. (see gaillard chair, above, with lines almost imitating japanese calligraphy, which had developed into something graceful, a tree limb in place of a ruler, poetry in place of prose.)

also coming from china was an ethic that some say was the breeding ground for buddhism itself: ancient chinese nature- worshipping religions. this, along with a developed buddhism as well switched the human/nature/deity paradigm that had developed in the west on its ear. very quickly nature went from what humans controlled to what humans were.