Japonisme' in Context: Documentation, Criticism, Aesthetic Reactions. (Volumes I and II).

Abstract

This study of japonisme is divided into two major parts: The first examines a number of primary records--with an emphasis on the French discovery of Japanese art--including the acquisitions of Japanese imagery by the Bibliotheque Nationale and Musee des Arts Decoratifs in the 19th century; exhibitions held during the second half of the century; auctions of Oriental art and dealers of japoneries; as well as records of trade and of selected private collections such as those of Monet, Burty, Duret, Duranty, and P. F. von Siebold. A full listing of this material is offered in 8 appendices in which an identification of the images is provided. In addition over 300 photographs exemplify the types of Japanese pictorial works circulated in Europe in the mid- to late 19th century. The purpose of this documentary research was to characterize the types of Japanese pictorial works introduced to Europe, examine their paths of entry and establish a pattern of interest in specific types of objects. These records indicate that although two major bodies of imagery were made available in French public collections in 1843 and 1855, a widespread discovery of Japanese art, revealed in a broad range of styles, did not occur until 1862-63. In part II, the critical literature on Far Eastern art published between 1856 and 1890 is synthesized into thematic categories, such as, "The Subjective and Expressive Aspects of Japanese Realism," "The Originality of Japanese Art," etc. Within these sections Western interpretations of Japan's pictorial arts are discussed in primarily chronological fashion and are examined in relation to Europe's contemporaneous aesthetic concerns. Corresponding to the avant-garde's appeals for an art that balanced illusionism and abstraction, realistic imitation and expression, its desire to create an eternal art and to record the activities of modern life, Japanese art was found to affirm many of these goals and simultaneously reinforced artistic interest in other nontraditional sources. Overall, the Western underst and ing of Far Eastern art stressed the symbolic or experiential representation of reality the Oriental artist achieved through the distinct methods he employed.