ART-PRESENTATION: Japanese Connections-The Birth of Modern Décor

Utagawa Hiroshige, Fuji from Yoshiwara (14th station), from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1833–34 Print, Paris, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques - Guimet, © RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Harry Bréjat

Starting in the 1860s, a partiality for anything coming from Japan appeared in France, followed by England, which was to continue for almost fifty years. Giving rise to the fashion of “Japonisme”, it followed on from the taste for “chinoiserie” that was in vogue in the courts of Europe at the end of the 18th century, and that had fascinated several generations of Romantic artists during the first half of the 19th century.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Louvre Abu Dhabi Archive

In the late 1800s, a group of French painters sought to move away from the illusionistic realm of art, creating instead symbolic and dreamlike paintings that evoke a world beyond that of reality. The paint-handling was soft and the scenes gauzy, trading precise draughtsmanship and strict perspective for life as if seen through memory. The artists formed a secret society and called themselves Les Nabis, they regarded themselves as initiates, and used a private vocabulary. They called a studio an ergasterium and ended their letters with the initials E.T.P.M.V. et M.P., meaning “En ta paume, mon verbe et ma pensée” (In your palm, my word and my thoughts). Their flat, perspectiveless paintings also bear more than a passing resemblance to Japanese prints, particularly the ukiyo-e works of Katsushika Hokusai, who was active in the early 1800s. This is no coincidence: the Nabis collected and studied Japanese prints, inspired not only by their two-dimensional style, but also by their elaboration of stories through separate panels and discontinuites, as is explored by a new exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi. In the exhibition “Japanese Connections: The Birth of Modern Décor” at  Louvre Abu Dhabi are on display 19th and 20th Century paintings, prints and folding screens that highlight the artistic and cultural dialogue between Japan and France, and the important influence of the ukiyo-e aesthetics on modern decorative arts. The exhibition is divided into four sections that illustrate the influence of central ukiyo-e aesthetic principles, including representing the world in two-dimensions without using illusions of perspective; narrative compositions that show the passing of time, innovative use of folding panels for storytelling; and symbolic refinement exploring intellectual, dreamlike and spiritual ideas. The exhibition presents ten prints and three screens from Japan in dialogue with 24 paintings and three screens from France. The Japanese works include “South Wind, Clear Sky” from the series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” (1831-32) and “Yôrô Waterfall in Mino Province” (1830-1834) by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Tôto Sumida tsutumi” (1858); and a six-leaved screen depicting a “Cherry Tree in Blossom on a Plain Gold Ground” by Hara Zaimei. Édouard Vuillard’s “Public Gardens” (1894), Pierre Bonnard’s folding screen “Nannies Promenade, Frieze of Carriages” (1897), Paul Sérusier’s “Women at the Spring” (1899) and “The Field of Corn and Buckwheat” (1900), a series of decorative panels by Odilon Redon and “Rolling Landscape” (1900), a four-leaf screen by Marguerite Sérusier. Using period photographs and films, projections in the exhibition also offer visitors a walk through Paris at the turn of the 20th Century, the city then considered the world’s capital of arts. The Manga Lab, a creative and experimental space for teenagers and young adults will offer a variety of entertaining experiences to explore contemporary Japanese culture.

Info: Curator: Isabelle Cahn, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Cultural District, Abu Dhabi, Duration: 6/9-24/11/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Sat-Sun 10:00-20:00, Thu-Fri 10:00-22:00, www.louvreabudhabi.ae

Édouard Vuillard, Public Gardens, The Conversation; The Nannies; The Red Parasol; Young Girls Playing; The Question, 1894, Glue-based distemper on canvas, Paris-Musée d’Orsay, © RMN-Grand Palais (Musee d’Orsay) / Jean Schormans
Édouard Vuillard, Public Gardens, The Conversation; The Nannies; The Red Parasol; Young Girls Playing; The Question, 1894, Glue-based distemper on canvas, Paris-Musée d’Orsay, © RMN-Grand Palais (Musee d’Orsay) / Jean Schormans

 

 

Katsushika Hokusai, South Wind, Clear Sky, from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, 1831–32, Print, Paris, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet, © MNAAG, Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Michel Urtado
Katsushika Hokusai, South Wind, Clear Sky, from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, 1831–32, Print, Paris, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet, © MNAAG, Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Michel Urtado

 

 

Odilon Redon, Decoration for the dining room of Baron Robert de Domecy, 1901, Left: Branch of Yellow Flowers, Center: Large Panel with Plant Motifs, pale-background, Right: Figure (Yellow Flower), Oil, distemper, and pastel on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
Odilon Redon, Decoration for the dining room of Baron Robert de Domecy, 1901, Left: Branch of Yellow Flowers, Center: Large Panel with Plant Motifs, pale-background, Right: Figure (Yellow Flower), Oil, distemper, and pastel on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

 

 

Left: Utagawa Hiroshige, The Bank of the Sumida River in Edo, 1858, Print , © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / APF. Right: Utagawa Hiroshige, Inume Pass in Kai Province, 1858, Print , Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / APF
Left: Utagawa Hiroshige, The Bank of the Sumida River in Edo, 1858, Print , © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / APF. Right: Utagawa Hiroshige, Inume Pass in Kai Province, 1858, Print , Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / APF

 

 

Maurice Denis, Screen with Doves, c. 1896, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
Maurice Denis, Screen with Doves, c. 1896, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

 

 

Up: Set of Four Fusuma, Japan, 18th century, Ink, colours, and gold on paper, Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / APF. Down: Hara Zaimei, Cherry Tree in Blossom Against a Gold Background, first half of the 19th century, Six-panel screen, Paris, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet, © RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier
Up: Set of Four Fusuma, Japan, 18th century, Ink, colours, and gold on paper, Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / APF. Down: Hara Zaimei, Cherry Tree in Blossom Against a Gold Background, first half of the 19th century, Six-panel screen, Paris, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet, © RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier

 

 

Left: Paul Sérusier, Field of Golden Corn and Buckwheat, c. 1900, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt. Center: Maurice Denis, Sunlight on the Terrace, 1890, Oil on card, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt. Right: Paul Sérusier, Women at the Spring, c.1899, Distemper on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
Left: Paul Sérusier, Field of Golden Corn and Buckwheat, c. 1900, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt. Center: Maurice Denis, Sunlight on the Terrace, 1890, Oil on card, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt. Right: Paul Sérusier, Women at the Spring, c.1899, Distemper on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

 

 

Marguerite Sérusier, Rolling Landscape, 1900, Four-leaved screen, Oil on canvas, wood frame, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
Marguerite Sérusier, Rolling Landscape, 1900, Four-leaved screen, Oil on canvas, wood frame, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

 

 

Maurice Denis, October, also known as October Evening, 1891, Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
Maurice Denis, October, also known as October Evening, 1891, Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

 

 

Pierre Bonnard, Nannies’ Promenade, Frieze of Carriages, 1897, Screen composed of a series of four lithographic prints in five colours, Paris, Musée d’Orsay; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Prints and Photographs Department, © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Michèle Bellot
Pierre Bonnard, Nannies’ Promenade, Frieze of Carriages, 1897, Screen composed of a series of four lithographic prints in five colours, Paris, Musée d’Orsay; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Prints and Photographs Department, © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Michèle Bellot

 

 

Maurice Denis, September, also known as September Evening or Women Sitting on the Terrace, 1891, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, gift of Comtesse Vitali, in memory of her brother, Vicomte Guy de Cholet, 1923, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
Maurice Denis, September, also known as September Evening or Women Sitting on the Terrace, 1891, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, gift of Comtesse Vitali, in memory of her brother, Vicomte Guy de Cholet, 1923, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt