France and Japan – a love story

As early as the 17th century, Japan had completely closed its doors to Western countries. This isolationism was expressed in the reduction or complete cessation of trade with the West and diplomatic contacts with it. The reason for this isolationist policy was the fear of European imperialism in Asia, which was embodied at the time in the attempts of Spain and Portugal to create colonies in Asia.

The seclusion continued throughout the 18th century and into the mid-19th century.

Opening the gates

“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and one shall not approach the other…” (Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West). Is that right??

What encouraged the West in the 19th century to open the gates of Japan even more strongly was the Industrial Revolution and the need created in Western countries for raw materials.

American interest in Japan increased after the United States took control of California, which gave the Pacific Ocean its western border. The Americans wanted to create a friendly station in the Asian region, where they could anchor their ships for resupply. The United States saw great potential in developing trade with the Japanese.

In 1853, an American delegation arrived in Japan, accompanied by many soldiers. The Japanese realized that they could not refuse the demand to end their isolation, at least towards the United States. There was good reason to fear that relations would deteriorate to the point of war.

In 1854, the first treaty was signed, which symbolized the opening of Japan to the United States. Following this treaty, Great Britain also signed, France, the Netherlands and Russia on a similar agreement.

Japonisme

The rapprochement of Western countries with Japan was expressed in intensive imports and exports that led to a deeper and broader acquaintance with Japanese culture and art. The goods that arrived in Europe and America from Japan revealed a new world to the West: clothing, ceramics, paper fans, prints, curtains, porcelain, silk...

The prints were considered cheap folk art in Japan itself. They were printed using the woodblock printing method. The prints often depicted beauties and prostitutes, actors, scenes from the folk Kabuki theater, and landscapes. They were called “pictures of the floating world,” a Buddhist term that calls for believing that everything is fleeting, futile, in contrast to the eternal world.

The art of woodblock printing is particularly associated with the lower classes who could not afford unique works of art, and were looking for an easy, cheap, and quick way to decorate their homes.

Japan used the platform of international exhibitions as a tool to promote local art. For example, the Paris Exposition of 1867 included a stand displaying Japanese art objects to the public. In the years following these exhibitions, a huge number of arts and crafts flooded Europe. It was a time when anything associated with Japan was considered fashionable and desirable. Many shops began to sell imported prints, traditional clothing such as kimonos, figurines, and antiques. By the 80s, Japanese items had become coveted not only by the artistic elite, but also by the general public.

Japonism is an artistic style that reflected the European view of Japan. Western artists saw Japanese culture as a source of inspiration from which they drew themes or imitated in terms of form.

Art critic Philippe Burty coined the term Japonisme in 1872 when he sought to give a name to the field of study of Japanese art.

Japonism and painting

Japanese paintings revealed unfamiliar conventions to European artists, including dominant diagonals, the use of elegant and simple lines, distortions of perspective, the absence of shading, concise and minimalist descriptions. The composition of the paintings was also surprising: unexpected interruptions of the compositional boundaries, an off-center perspective, flattening, prominent contour lines. The encounter with Japanese painting in the 19th century came against the backdrop of the attraction and longing for new and original sources of inspiration.

Claude Monet

Legend has it that one day in 1871, Monet (who had left France during the Franco-Prussian War) walked into a shop in Amsterdam. There he saw Japanese prints on wrapping paper. It was love at first sight that lasted throughout his life. Monet had a large collection of Japanese prints. He cultivated a Japanese garden near his home, and in one of his paintings he depicted his wife dressed in a kimono and surrounded by Japanese paper fans.

Vincent van Gogh

The Dutch painter with the ear cut off is associated with the post-impressionist movement, a style seemingly very far from Japanese minimalism, but it is no coincidence that the background to his painting is Mount Fuji, the symbol of Japan, and two geishas. Van Gogh was exposed to Japanese art and his admiration for this style caused him to completely abandon the dark tones that characterized his paintings at the beginning of his career. He adopted black, bold outlines in the style of Japanese prints.

In a letter he sent to his brother Theo in April 1888, he noted that “I have a lot of painting work to do, because I want to create pictures in the style of Japanese prints. All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art.”

It would seem that any connection between a Japanese painter and a Dutch-French painter is impossible. Each has their own family and cultural heritage, completely different from that of the other. Nevertheless, despite the geographical distance, a surprising closeness was created.

Toulouse Lautrec

Lautrec's style, characterized by large patches of color, flatness, and unusual perspective, was influenced by Japanese painting. The subjects of Lautrec's paintings: clubs, brothels, theaters, and actors were also the subjects of the Japanese "Floating World" prints.

Paul Gauguin

Gauguin's technique is influenced by Japanese printmaking in several aspects: the use of closed shapes bounded by a clear black outline, the use of an oblique perspective. The tree branch that separates the parts of the painting is a Japanese element.

Japanism and literature

“For us French, what we knew about Japan was above all the country of “Madame Chrysantheme”.

“Madame Chrysantheme” is an autobiographical novel by the writer and naval officer Pierre Loti. The novel is based on the diary that Loti wrote while he was in Japan.

The novel was written in French and published in 1887. It was a great success, published in 25 editions at the time and translated into several languages. The novel remains in print to this day as a classic in Western literature.

Pierre Loti was stationed in various places during his service and used to write about his experiences there. In the summer of 1885 he was stationed in Nagasaki and the book “Madame Chrysantheme” is based on his experiences.

It was common for visitors to Japan to take “temporary wives,” and both the “husband” and the “wife” understood that the connection was temporary. The narrator arrives in Nagasaki with the intention of choosing “a little yellow woman with black hair and cat’s eyes.” After a broker introduces him to Madame Chrysantheme, he settles in “a little paper house surrounded by green gardens.” Their relationship is ambivalent. He does not love her, but her presence is part of his exotic experience in Japan.

The descriptions of the landscapes and cities in the novel give the reader a real sense of the place and everyday life. The narrator feels that he will never be able to understand the country and its people.

“These customs, symbols, traditions… are unfamiliar to us…there is nothing in common with these people.”

The novel has cast a long shadow to this day on the perception of the Japanese woman: devoted, obedient, loyal, submissive, exotic.

The novel inspired Andre Messager's opera "Madame Chrysantheme" and Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly".

Japanism and music

Like many artists in the 19th century, Camille Saint Saens was influenced by the Japonisme movement.

The opera “The Yellow Princess” (La Princess Jaune) tells the story of Cornelius, a Dutch student who is fascinated by all things Japanese, and his cousin Lana, who is in love with him. But Cornelius is obsessively in love with a portrait of Ming, a Japanese princess. Under the influence of a potion, Cornelius dreams that he is in Japan. When he wakes up, Lana angrily rebukes him for his infatuation with a woman who only exists in his dream.

Cornelius becomes aware of how much he loves Lana. He offers her an apology, which she hesitantly accepts. They confess their love for each other and the opera ends.

The opera was performed in 1872 in Paris.

Japonism and the music of Debussy Claude – “The Sea”

Debussy's masterpiece is, without a doubt, "The Sea."

The popularity of Japonism also influenced Debussy. While in Rome from 1885 to 1887, he visited antique shops and collected Japanese art. On the wall of his studio hung Hokusai's print "The Great Wave." The print depicts boats encountering a monstrous wave.

The aesthetic parallels between Hokusai and Debussy are many. Both chose a realistic, dynamic, and energetic style. The difference between the two artists lies in the depiction of the power of the sea. Hokusai emphasizes the fear of the sea that surrounds his country, while Debussy gives his work a sense of nostalgia.

And finally…

The longing, fascination, and attraction of France and Western European countries to Japan began in the 19th century. Since then, Japan and the West have been bound together in a bond of admiration and love for each other's culture. Today, elements of Japanese culture can be found in almost every field, whether in music, fashion, food, or architecture.

At the same time, there is a great influence of the West on Japan. These mutual influences are a result of globalization, a process in which different cultural and aesthetic patterns around the globe migrate from country to country and become integrated and mixed with each other.

Did you like the article? Want to read more articles that deal with related topics?

• The Nabi Group – The Art Prophets of the Late 19th Century
• The Gold and the Clay – The Life Story of Camille Claudel
• Two Bodhisattvas in Asakusa – A very interesting article on the blog of tour guide Benzi Goren, who specializes, among other things, in Japan.