#japonismes

[warakami-vaporwave]

Sakura Spring

[fripperiesandfobs]

Coat by Iida & Co./Takashimaya ca. 1900

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art

[arthistoryanimalia]

#Baturday :

Edmond Lachenal (France, 1855-1930)

Vases in the Form of Lanterns, c.1885

Glazed earthenware, Hand painted earthenware

Now on display at Philadelphia Museum of Art “Firing the Imagination: Japanese Intluence on French Ceramics, 1860-1910”

“In 1870, at age 15, Edmond Lachenal apprenticed himself to the renowned ceramist Théodore Deck. At the Deck studio in Paris, Lachenal learned both production techniques and the non-Western styles and ornamental traditions which Deck was beginning to incorporate in his work. Lachenal brought these approaches with him when he established his own workshop in 1883. There he produced small and large Japanese-inspired plaques, vases, and sculptural objects.

Shaped like Japanese paper lantern[s], th[ese] vase[s] [are] decorated with two sculptural brown bats. Lachenal may have been influenced by the work of the Japanese potter Miyagawa Kōzan (1842–1916), whose prize-winning ceramics were displayed at the Paris Universal Expositions of 1878 and 1889. Kōzan was celebrated for his decorative technique taka-ukibori (sculptural relief), in which he decorated the surfaces of his wares with realistic three-dimensional high reliefs and sculptures, such as a crab climbing on the edge of a bowl.”

[livesunique]

A French 'Japonisme' Gilt & Patinated Bronze & Chinese Cloisonné Enamel Table By Ferdinand Barbedienne,

The Design attributed to Edouard Lievre, Paris, Circa 1870, the Cloisonné Qing Dynasty, 19th Century,

The rectangular top with turquoise ground elaborately decorated with colorful flora, fauna, feathers and foliate scrolls, set in cloud-form pierced gallery, raised on cluster-column bamboo-style stem adorned with dragons, with further bamboo-style supports and similar base with outscrolled feet, signed F. Barbedienne to base.

35 in. (89 cm.) high, 34 in. (87 cm.), 22 in. (56 cm.) deep.

Courtesy: Christie's

[jeannepompadour]

The blue kimono by Guy Rose, 1909

[yinandyanglifestyle]

I went to Sydney for Alphonse Mucha

by: Icie

One thing to know about me, I was an interior design major back in my home country. I absolutely sucked at it, but I fell in love with Art History. In that minor, our professors taught us about different art styles through the ages and bit by bit I saw the progress of art through the ages. I loved the OG Gothic Style, Romanesque, was disillusioned with Baroque and Rococo from the west... It was too Western focused and it didn't interest me as much (because I was an Asian kid) until we got towards the end of the 19th century where the grandparents of weebs (of which I am a part of) hailed from and Japonisme was a thing. Japonisme inspired so much beautiful art and it triggered a domino effect that ultimately led to Art Nouveau where Alphonse Mucha was a main character.

This was it. My favourite art style! I can never go back to loving other art styles after discovering Art Nouveau. It spoke to me about how feminine it was and it awakened something from my mostly masculine soul. I wanted to see more of these beautiful girls surrounded by flowers and stars, wearing kimono-inspired clothes in pretty pastels. The macaroni hair only added to the romanticism of it all. This is what love is like, but in art form!

Fast forward to 2024, The Mucha Foundation collaborated with the Art Gallery of New South Wales to host over 200 of this master's works which was "the most comprehensive exhibition ever seen in Australia of this visionary artist's work". I had to see it. I needed to see it! I am a big fan of Mucha and Art Nouveau, and one of my dreams was to go to Paris, Brussels, and Prague for all of the beautiful swirly-whirlies. Being a Brisbanite, I was exited. Please come to my city! Please, please, please! But AGNSW said "sorry, it's exclusive to Sydney."

Dammit. It's off to Sydney I go. I donned my Sailor Moon dress, packed my bag for a 3 day trip with my partner just so I could see this legend's works and boy, I was not disappointed. I learned to love Mucha and his works even more. We landed in Sydney, didn't check in our hotel, and went straight to the main quest:

Outside, they had this big banner of Mucha's name. Inside was this glorious area that showcased Summer (left) and Rose (right). Oh wait, the exhibit is next door. So we went to the more modern building, down two floors, bought tickets, and enjoyed the art.

In the newer building next door, I was treated to pre-art nouveau Mucha. We learned about what his life was like before his popularity. He designed some clothes for a theatre, hung out with everyone's buddy Paul Gaugin, Ludek Marold and Annah the Javanese. The tour guide said, "if he wasn't a painter, he would've been a great photographer".

Then we were treated to the meat of the exhibit: the Sarah Bernhardt stuff, his lithographs, his sketches, but what struck me most were his concept art to reality. (Excuse my phone's shadow. For some reason, AGNSW decided to put these works on a 45° angle under bright lights. The girl beside me even said "fucking glare!" and I wholeheartedly agreed.)

We were treated to so many wonderful works and I cried when I saw parts of Le Pater. I'm an atheist but this made me think that maybe there is a god. Maybe. But still, beautiful artwork that left me speechless.

I got to stand next to my favourite work of his: White Star. Joy!

At the end of the exhibit, the tour guide talked about how Mucha who was somewhat influenced by Japan, now influenced Japan. Now we come full circle with anime and manga characters depicted in art nouveau styled paintings and posters. Oh boy, we had our Lord Yoshitaka Amano's works in the gallery as well. I was so lucky to see works of my two favourite artists in one day!

It was almost 2PM by the time we finished the tour. We spent at least 4 hours in the gallery after landing just because I fangirled and was willing to spend money on Mucha. Yeah, I bought stuff. A reproduction of Alphonse Mucha's original "Documents Decoratifs" which focused more on his industrial design work (jewellery, cutlery, furniture etc) which I rarely see on the internet, a set of badges and make-up from Japanese brand MilleFée.

I went to Sydney for Alphonse Mucha and it was worth it. I end this rabid fangirling with the parting words of the Art Gallery of New South Wales' tour guide: Mucha's style has never been as well loved and as well represented as it is in Japan.

[gentlyepigrams]

Dressing gown, late 19th-early 20th century. Japan for the Western market. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

[paintingslaurlikes]

Louis Anquetin. Avenue de Clichy (Street - Five O'Clock in the Evening). 1887. Oil on paper mounted on canvas. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford.

[geritsel]

Charles William Bartlett - Kobe in the Rain, colr wooblock print, 1916.

[stirringwinds]

just thinking about the artistic connections forged between nations, and it’s one aspect of nedpan i find really cool to ponder— it’s like “your influence on me is immortalised for the whole world to see in the brushstrokes of my greatest artist”: because of how van gogh was inspired by hokusai and hiroshige (whom were themselves exposed to dutch art and techniques). and given how nationally iconic ‘the great wave’ and ‘starry night’ are in world art? if art is part of a nation’s soul, then that’s one really meaningful way to leave a mutual influence on each other. 

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

From the age of 6 I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was 50 I had published a universe of designs. But all I have done before the the age of 70 is not worth bothering with. At 75 I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am 80 you will see real progress. At 90 I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At 100, I shall be a marvelous artist. At 110, everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign my self 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing.

Katsushika Hokusai (c. 1760-1849), the renowned Japanese woodblock printmaker and printer from the famous period of ukiyo-e.

[warakami-vaporwave]

Sakura Death

[the-cricket-chirps]

Alfred Stevens, An Actress (La comedienne) 1888

Alfred Stevens, Nouvelles de Absent or Mappemonde

[arthistoryanimalia]

René Lalique was born #OTD (6 April 1860 - 1 May 1945). Since it's also still #BatAppreciationWeek, here are a few of Lalique's many bats!

1. bat anklet c.1898-9; gold, enamel, antique & rose diamond, opal 2. bat ring c.1899; silver, enamel, moonstone, gold both Musée des Arts décoratifs

Both these pieces were commissioned as gifts for American writer Natalie Clifford Barney (1876-1972), who was openly lesbian; bats were a Fin de siècle symbol of homosexuality. But they were also popular Art Nouveau motifs thanks to Japonisme. Here is another example:

3. Ring c.1901, gold, blue enamel, sapphire

And another, this one paired with another popular Art Nouveau animal:

4. "Butterflies and Bats" pocketwatch, c. 1899-1900; gold, enamel, moonstone.Via Christie's (sold in 2002 for US$207,500)

[jeannepompadour]

"Girl in a pink kimono" by Gustave Courtois, 1883

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Set design sketch for the original production of the opera Iris

Adolf Hohenstein, 1898