Lilla Cabot Perry: Japan's Art Scene, Late 1800's

"Otsune San" by Lilla Cabot Perry

Thomas and Lilla Perry had gone to Japan for his work as Professor of English Language and Literature at Keiogijiku University in Tokyo. "Lilla's three-year residence in Japan opened up a whole new direction in her art. As her husband pointed out, 'Japanese prints and paintings, besides conveying to the outside world the most vivid knowledge of what the country is, have practically revolutionized modern art by their wonderful artistic simplicity.'

Both Perrys soon discovered, however, that the situation of the art world inside Japan in 1898 was anything but simple. In brief, the prints and paintings of the Ukiyo-e School, as exemplified by Hokusai, Utamaro and Hiroshige, symbolized Japonism to Western eyes and were a source of inspiration for Whistler, La Farge and the Impressionists, in particular. Inside Japan, however, such works were 'forbidden' during the Meiji reign through the 1880s. By contrast, an 'orgy of foreignism' characterized the attitude of the leaders in power after Commodore Perry 'forced open' the doors of Japan in 1854.

Counteracting this 'wholesale destruction' of the nation's culture were the efforts of two of the world's leading orientalists - Ernest Fenollosa, Curator of Oriental Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and his colleague Okakura Kakuzo. Together, with the Emperor's consent, they founded the Imperial Art School in Tokyo, which was dedicated to reviving traditional skills, as well as to promoting Western trends. In 1898 Okakura resigned to found a new school, the Nippon Bijuitsi-in, to accelerate the rehabilitation of traditional arts and crafts. Thirty-nine of the country's finest artists formerly associated with the Imperial School joined Okakura in his new endeavor.

Lilla had met Okakura, a close friend of La Farge, and Fenollosa eleven years earlier, when the three of them toured the National Gallery in London in the summer of 1887. She greatly appreciated the friendship of Okakura, who shared her admiration of Rembrandt and other Old Masters. She was, of course, particularly honored when Okakyra helped to organize an exhibition of her paintings in Tokyo in October 1898. Subsequently, she became an honorary member of the Nippon Bijuitsi-in Art Association."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist" by Meredith Martindale.)