Japonisme and its movements

According to Wikipedia, Japonisme is a French term that stands for the influence of the arts of Japan on the West. The word Japonisme was first used by Jules Claretie in his book L'Art Francais en that was published in 1872. Japonisme has been considered to be a mainly visual arts movement and has manipulated artworks in the same, similar, and different fields of arts; starting from the influence of prints on prints all the way to the influence of prints on sculpture. In 1860s, Ukiyo-e wood-block prints became one of the most prominent inspirations for Western artists, especially for the European Impressionists. Even artists outside of the Impressionist group, such as Van Gogh, were inspired by Japanese arts; Van Gogh ever said, “I envy the Japanese artists for the incredible neat clarity which all their works have. It is never boring and you never get the impression that they work in a hurry. It is as simple as breathing.” Thus, Van Gogh made some paintings that imitate the Japanese art; for instance, Retrato de Père Tanguy that shows "a background totally covered with Japanese prints......... such familiar themes as Mount Fuji, geishas, 'morning glory' flowers and typical landscapes of all four seasons." (Lambourne, 47)

“Retrato de Pere Tanguy” 1887-1888

The Ukiyo-e prints inspired the Impressionists both in the subject matter as well as in the Japanese use of artistic forms, such as the use of asymmetrical composition, cropped edge, bold and pure colors, assertive outlines, decorative ornaments, and flat planes. Japanese decorative arts brought a new freedom from photographic representation; they introduced new and refreshing formats of making arts. The use of bold and pure colors in flat picture planes made the trend of abstraction rising up. Many Impressionists were also affected by the lack of shadow that Japanese’ used.

The prints of floating world were actually a significant sign of modernity within Japan feudal society. In Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate, ruled from 1615-1868, was forbidding its society to make contacts with the outside world. Only in an area, called Edo, laws of restricted food, dress, and actions or behaviors were not applied. This kind of freedom was identified as the freedom of floating world which also allowed artists to develop and to make thousands of prints based on what they liked. (Friedman, 18)