Japonisme - In Fin De Siecle Art in Belgium (Paperback, Illustrated Ed)

'Japonisme' was the term coined by the French art critic Philippe Burty to describe the European-wide fad for all things Japanese that occurred in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Because of the linguistic and the close geographical relationships, the fashion of Japonisme transferred from France to Belgium, especially from Paris. A stream from England under the name of the Victorian style and the Arts and Crafts Movement also brought Japonisme on to the mainland. Japanese original trimming through Monet, Manet and Degas, the strong flat tones of van Gogh, and Gustav Klimt's stylised decorative art; these are all personal responses discovered in Japanese art by fin de siecle artists. This scholarly cahier addresses the main issues regarding Japonisme in Belgian art between 1880 and 1914. It explores the way in which Japanese art entered Belgium, and how it penetrated public and private collections. It goes on to describe how Japanese art dealers helped to bring the Japanese taste into interior decoration and ukiyo-e to the public.