Japonisme

Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects by the painter James Tissot in 1869 is a representation of the popular curiosity about all Japanese items that started with the opening of the country in the Meiji Restoration of the 1860s.

Japonisme[a] is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858.[1][2] Japonisme was first described by French art critic and collector Philippe Burty in 1872.[3]

While the effects of the trend were likely most pronounced in the visual arts, they extended to architecture, landscaping and gardening, and clothing.[4] Even the performing arts were affected; Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado is perhaps the best example.

Window of La Pagode (Paris), built in 1896

From the 1860s, ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints, became a source of inspiration for many Western artists.[5] These prints were created for the commercial market in Japan.[5] Although a percentage of prints were brought to the West through Dutch trade merchants, it was not until the 1860s that ukiyo-e prints gained popularity in Europe.[5] Western artists were intrigued by the original use of color and composition. Ukiyo-e prints featured dramatic foreshortening and asymmetrical compositions.[6]

Japanese decorative arts, including ceramics, enamels, metalwork, and lacquerware, were as influential in the West as the graphic arts.[7] During the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japanese pottery was exported around the world.[8] From a long history of making weapons for samurai, Japanese metalworkers had achieved an expressive range of colours by combining and finishing metal alloys.[9] Japanese cloissoné enamel reached its "golden age" from 1890 to 1910,[10] producing items more advanced than ever before.[11] These items were widely visible in nineteenth-century Europe: a succession of world's fairs displayed Japanese decorative art to millions,[12][13] and it was picked up by galleries and fashionable stores.[7] Writings by critics, collectors, and artists expressed considerable excitement about this "new" art.[7] Collectors including Siegfried Bing[14] and Christopher Dresser[15] displayed and wrote about these works. Thus Japanese styles and themes reappeared in the work of Western artists and craftsmen.[7]


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  1. ^ "Japonism". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  2. ^ "Commodore Perry and Japan (1853–1854) | Asia for Educators | Columbia University". afe.easia.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  3. ^ Ono 2003, p. 1
  4. ^ Davis, Aaron, "Japanese Influence On Western Architecture Part 2: The Early Craftsmen Movement" Nakamoto Forestry, May 28, 2019; accessed 2020.09.16.
  5. ^ a b c Bickford, Lawrence (1993). "Ukiyo-e Print History". Impressions (17): 1. JSTOR 42597774.
  6. ^ Ono 2003, p. 45
  7. ^ a b c d Irvine 2013, p. 11.
  8. ^ Earle 1999, p. 330.
  9. ^ Earle 1999, p. 66.
  10. ^ Irvine 2013, p. 177.
  11. ^ Earle 1999, p. 252.
  12. ^ Irvine 2013, pp. 26–38.
  13. ^ Earle 1999, p. 10.
  14. ^ Irvine 2013, p. 36.
  15. ^ Irvine 2013, p. 38.