Source of Japonisme and Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris: Reception and exhibition of Japanese art during the formation period of French modernism

Abstract

The word Japonisme was invented in 1872 by the french author Philippe Burty to designate a new field of study encompassing artistic, historical and ethnographic borrowings from Japanese art. More precisely, he was referring to a specific phenomenon of the inquiry and absorption about Japanese aesthetics and culture by French artists. Japonisme in French society at the time it was received as a cultural phenomenon. The earliest Japonisme enthusiasts in France were printmakers, including Felix Bracquemond. 1856 is often regarded as the date when the vogue for Japanese prints was initiated in Paris. Felix Bracquemond discovered a copy of Hokusai’s Manga in the studio of his printer Delatre in 1856, it marked the beginning of an enthusiasm in french artistic circles for the Japanese art. In addition, International exhibitions provided a platform for disseminating information about Japanese art and culture. In Paris, the Exposition Universelle of 1867 introduced the wider public to Japanese art and especially expanded the discourse on Japanese art, making Japan a model for fashionability and good taste.BR Since the Japanese government"s official delegation participated for the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris, the interest and taste for the Japanese art spread throughout french society. Located on the Seine River in the Champs de mars, the Japanese art was exhibited in the seven months. The Japanese government displayed there the figure prints, ceramics, furnitures, bronze statues, costumes, a variety of arts and crafts of Japan, introducing japanese artworks into French art market. Through this exhibition, the French artists and art lovers found the simplicity in the Japanese art and became enthusiastic about the Japanese decorative motifs.