Alfred Stevens: Japonisme

"La Parisienne Japonaise" by Alfred Stevens

After more than 200 years of seclusion, foreign merchant ships began to visit Japan. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan ended a long period of national isolation and began exporting its goods to Europe. Japanese art and artifacts began to appear in small curiosity shops in Paris and London. Also a succession of world's fairs displayed Japanese decorative art to millions, and it was picked up by galleries and fashionable stores.

Collecting Japanese art and artifacts became a craze. The art itself, which was so different from Western art, had a strong influence on the painters of that time including Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, James Whistler, Edouard Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, James Tissot, Van Gogh, and many others including Alfred Stevens.

Stevens spent lavishly and had a special room set aside for his collection of screens, porcelain, wall coverings, bibelots, paper parasols, lamps, kimonos and the like, which provided the artist with a mosaic of exotic and sophisticated colours in many of his interiors. He would also have his models frequently pose in kimonos, hold fans and look thoughtfully at the decorative objects. For all of his interest 'le Japonisme,' his own style of painting does not seem to be influenced by it to any significant degree.

In 'La Parisienne Japonaise' (1872) Stevens shows a lovely lady looking dreamily into a mirror. She wears a kimono made of exotic blue patterned silk with an exquisite sash catching and reflecting the light in the room. Her hair is decorated with Japanese combs and ornaments. Her hand lightly holds a transparent fan, with a lovely painted screen reflected in the mirror. Unusual, beautiful items like these obviously inspired Alfred Stevens.

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell, and "Japonisme" from Wikipedia.)