Japonisme

Japanese ports opened to trade with the west in 1853, L'exposition Universelle introduced Japanese arts and crafts culture to the west. A French critic gave the name Japonisme to the fascination with Japanese style. Wood cut prints by masters of the ukiyo-e school where being imported, there was an exchange of culture. Wood block prints date back to the early eighteenth century in Japan, they were simple, transitory with every day non heroic subjects.  The main purpose of the prints was to distribute texts, especially Buddhists scriptures.  Siegfried Bing who was a Parisian art dealer helped introduce Japanese artworks and founded the journal Le Japon Artistique in 1888, his aim was to raise the level of crafts in the west and show that in Japan there was little difference between art and applied art, he created awareness throughout Europe.Transformed impressionists and post impressionists art resulted in exoticism in the decorative arts.  Oriental bric a brac was going on and  fans, kimonos, lacquers, bronzes and silks where now being traded to the west. Christopher Dresser traveled to Japan and brought goods for resale in a shop called Liberty of London which opened in 1875. Japonisme resulted in decoration being used as means of artistc expression. The Herte Brothers, Van Gogh  and Dega where all inspired by Japanese prints.

May Belfort, 1895 – Henri de Toulouse

He made use of the Kabuki theatre prints and adopted the exaggerated colours, contours and facial expressions to create his eye catching poster.

Vase with cover 1888-98- William De Morgan.

In this vase we can see that Morgan was inspired by Japanese shapes but there was also a western design.

Compagnie des Chocolats et des Thes  by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec –Confetti

This poster is very simple but still the artist uses bold lines which defines the white dress and light colours.  This work advertises new paper confetti which is inspired by the Japanese woodblock prints.

Bibliography. 

 Compagnie des Chocolats et des Thes Posters by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen at AllPosters.com. 2013. Compagnie des Chocolats et des Thes Posters by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen at AllPosters.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Compagnie-des-Chocolats-et-des-Thes-Posters_i6327766_.htm. [Accessed 09 April 2013].

File:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec May Belfort poster 1895.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. 

2013. File:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec May Belfort poster 1895.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. [ONLINE] Available at:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_de_Toulouse-Lautrec_May_Belfort_poster_1895.jpg. [Accessed 09 April 2013]

William De Morgan: Vase with cover (23.163.2ab) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2013. William De Morgan: Vase with cover (23.163.2ab) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/23.163.2ab. [Accessed 09 April 2013].

Confetti - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - WikiPaintings.org. 2013. Confetti - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - WikiPaintings.org. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec/confetti-1894. [Accessed 09 April 2013].