Japonisme: East-West Renaissance in the Late 19th Century (1998)

Ranging across arts--painting, literature, theater--this essay explores different phases of and attitudes toward assimilation of Japanese aesthetics and practice in late 19th-century Britain and France. Focus is on way that Japonisme underlaid various movements that constitute Modernism. The late 19th century was a time expanding of frontiers for many European nations, and England in particular was engaged in extending its gaze outward. In terms of political and socioeconomic practices, this centrifugal thrust had a negative character, whereby British Imperialism took form of colonizing a vast array of others--chiefly Africa and India. Viewed in terms of arts, however, this tendency to look elsewhere had a more positive character, signifying both a discontent with Greco-Roman principles that had governed European art and an interest in developing new modes and styles of representation. Although acquisitive impulse was still operative, here competition branched out into questions of which art form might best be able to translate another culture, and since it was primarily visual arts of other cultures which first attracted attention, more theoretical issue became one of whether and how visual arts might be translated into a verbal medium. One of most fascinating examples of this interarts and intercultural phenomenon was Japonisme--the term conventionally used to describe influence of Japan on late 19th-century European art and life. Indeed, according to art historian Gabriel P. Weisberg, Japonisme can be seen as a type of East-West Renaissance.... a latter-day example of kind of cultural diffusion which occurred during Renaissance, when excitement of classical discoveries stimulated imitation and veneration (Japonisme 43). As Weisberg explains, term Japonisme was itself originally coined in 1872 by a French art critic, Philippe Burty, to designate a new field of study--artistic, historic and ethnographic (xi) which would present a more systematic and comprehensive approach to newly discovered Japanese art. Current interest in area has similarly stressed need for a comprehensive, global (Wichmann 13), and in doing so has also emphasized need for attention both to its manifold aspects and its distinctive character. Nor is it merely a historic interest that has fueled current interest in Japonisme but rather growing perception that by helping to free Western artistic mentality from constraints of its naturalistic and academic conventions, influence of Japanese aesthetics acted as a dynamic force behind various innovative and interarts movements of late 19th century which collectively served to constitute Modernism. As a way of contributing to this kind of research, my purpose in following essay is to explore further attraction to and challenges posed by Japanese art in later part of 19th century, particularly in Britain. Beginning first with a general cultural/historical overview of Japonisme, I will then examine various attempts in visual arts to incorporate Japanese pictorial techniques and designs; in turn, I will survey some of differing reactions to Japanese aesthetics and practice on part of various 19th-century artists and commentators, and then go on to discuss impact of Japanese art on representative novelists and poets. Finally, I will turn to theatrical arts, with a view to suggesting that drama might well be art form most capable of assimilating art of another culture and that in any case it was the stage that most registered impact of Japonisme as a whole. Within this general framework, I will be ranging widely across period and different art forms, for one of most intriguing things about Japonisme--and possibly reason why it had such an energizing effect--was frequently contradictory responses its various facets occasioned, just as at times even a single artist reflected opposing views in his/her assimilation and adaptation of Japanese aesthetics and motifs. …