Western Appropriation of the 'Orient'

Western museums proudly display that some of the artists whose work they exhibit were inspired by Japanese art and aesthetics. When Japanese trade reached western countries like Britain and France in the mid-19th century, there was indeed an appreciation for all things Japanese. Artists like Vincent Van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, James Tissot, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Claude Monet were drawn into what would become known as japonisme, a term coined by Philippe Burty in 1872 to describe the popularity of Japanese artworks in Paris and London. 

 Gustave Léonard de Jonghe, The Admirer of Japan, c. 1865, oil on canvas, 112.4 x 86.5 cm, Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens 

Sure, japonisme was a western phenomenon that led to a widespread appreciation of Japanese art and also led to major new developments in western art, such as the impressionist emphasis on everyday subject matter; the unique perspectives applied in ukiyo-e, the Japanese woodcuts; the sometimes flat composition; and the a more in-depth use of colour. Artists like Rossetti in England started collecting Japanese vases, while Monet, Degas, and Whistler, for example, obsessively collected ukiyo-e by Hokkaido, Hokkei, Keisai Eisen, or Hiroshige. One of the shops where Degas liked to purchase his Japanese prints was La Porte Chinoise, ironically named Chinese rather than Japanese. Degas was particularly interested in Hokusai's Manga. Mary Cassatt, on the other hand, felt drawn to the art of Kitagawa Utamaro, who focused more on close-up scenes of women in interior spaces. 

                            Mary Cassatt, The Letter, 1890-1891, colour aquatint with drypoint, Art Institute of Chicago 

                                Kitagawa Utamaro, The Courtesan Hinazaru, 1794, woodblock print (ukiyo-e) 

While Japanese art undoubtedly had an influence on avant-garde artists in Paris and London in the second half of the nineteenth century, and there was an appreciation of western impressionism by Japanese artists in the first half of the 20th century, we have to understand that this only happened because of western attitudes of colonialism. 

Before 1854, when the American military expedition led by Commodore Perry forcibly entered Japan to open up its trade markets, Japan had stuck to an isolationist policy during the Edo period (1600-1869). During this period, only the island of Dejima (then also known as Tsukishima, nowadays integrated into Nagasaki) was open to westerners, and then only the Dutch with Dejima as a trading post. Interactions and trade was very strictly regulated, however, and there was no toleration of Christianity by the Japanese. 

The United States, in the 19th century, was keen on a larger presence in Asia, specifically for increased trade with China and to compete with European countries' influence in the continent. Of course these intentions were not purely economic - the United States was very much driven by 'manifest destiny' and their warped ideas of forcing western civilisation and religion (aka Christianity) on countries they considered backward or primitive. 

Between 1790 and 1853, the United States tried again and again to open up trade routes with Japan, but they were turned away. Finally, under Commodore Perry, a whole host of steamships packed with guns sailed to Japan and threatened the Japanese with war and invasion if they didn't cooperate. Finally, the Kanagawa Treaty was signed between the shogunate and the Americans, stating that the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate should be open to US vessels for trade. Even if signed under threat of force, the Japanese felt they had no choice to comply. 

Eventually, the Kanagawa Treaty led to similar agreements between Japan and England (1854), Japan and Russia (1855), and Japan and France (1858). The previous restrictions on military activities by the Japanese shogunate were now somewhat lifted, and this weakened the position of the shogun as his enemies rearmed themselves. Debate over the influence of foreign powers led to a shift in power from the shogunate to the Imperial Court in Kyoto. This eventually led to the Meiji Restoration in 1868, which completely affected Japanese lives. There was a massive increase in foreign trade, an increase in Japanese military might, and the later immense rise in Japanese economic and technological advancements. 

Claude Monet, La Japonaise (Camille Monet in Costume), 1876, oil on canvas, 231.8 x 142.3 cm, Museum of Fine Arts Boston 

Sure, Japanese art forever changed the face of western art, especially with its influence on impressionism in France and on late Pre-Raphaelites in England, but we must remember that it came with a cost. Western artists fetishised the Japanese to the extent that Japanese objets d'art - such as kimonos, fans, screens, and woodcuts - were randomly used just because they were visually pleasing, not for the history behind them. It was fetishisation of the Japanese culture, an exotification of Japanese clothing, and an appropriation of what the west considered 'oriental' and 'exotic'. 

        James Tissot, La Japonaise au bain, 1864, oil on canvas, 208 x 124 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon 

As in the Tissot above, Japanese customs were conveniently pushed aside in favour of an objectification of the Japanese people and culture as a whole. As Oscar Wilde aptly commented, "the whole of Japan is an invention" - it was a Western appropriation of Japanese culture that led to new developments in impressionism and western 19th-century art that is often seen as the bedrock of modern art. And this has to be acknowledged, especially as its foundations lay in blatant colonialism.