JAPONISM

When Japan reopened trade with the West in 1853 after a long period of isolation, many Japanese artefacts were brought to Europe and influenced the stylistic development of Modernism. Ensuing international exhibitions disseminated many forms of Japanese art and crafts into popular culture and some of the leading artists of Modernism, such as Monet, held extensive collections of Japanese prints. The formal qualities of Japanese woodblocks of the Ukiyo-e school aligned with the aims of these innovative artists. These prints featured flattened forms outlined in black, fresh and unusual colour combinations, and unconventional perspectives. The subject matter included everyday domestic and urban scenes, as well as images from the natural world. Art Nouveau, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist painters and printmakers incorporated patterning, compositions with steep viewing angles, truncated framing, and flattened colour blocks into their work.[1]

Australian artist Margaret Preston absorbed the Japanese influence during her stay in Europe in the early 1900s. She aimed for decoration without ornamentation and favoured still lives of plants and flowers, particularly Australian native flowers. Her preferred techniques were woodcuts, linocuts and monotypes, generally printed in black, using patterning and repetition of forms with intense colours that she applied by hand.[2]

Contemporary Australian artist Cressida Campbell has also adopted Japanese woodblock techniques, after studying in Tokyo in 1980. Campbell’s woodcuts are hand-painted, then printed, and are often unique prints, with the painted woodblock also displayed as an art object.[3]

(Anne Taylor Aug. 2019)

[1] “Japonisme: Japan and the Birth of Modern Art,” National Gallery of Victoria, 2018, https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/japonisme/.

[2] “Margaret Preston: Australian Printmaker,” National Gallery of Australia, 2004, https://nga.gov.au/preston/.  

[3] “Art Sets: Cressida Campbell,” Art Gallery of New South Wales, https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artsets/r97ogs.