# Japonisme

> The Western absorption of Japanese woodblock prints, textiles and crafts after Japan reopened to trade in the 1850s. Artists and designers borrowed ukiyo-e's flat colour, bold contours, off-centre and cropped compositions, high viewpoints and crest-like emblems; these devices dissolved academic perspective and set the visual grammar of the modern poster and of Art Nouveau.

- Period: 1860–1910
- Where: Western Europe, North America, Central Europe
- Origin: Paris and London, after Japanese prints reached Europe in the late 1850s and were shown at the 1862 London and 1867 Paris exhibitions
- Branch: Craft & organic
- Also known as: Japanism, Anglo-Japanese style
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/japonisme/

## How it works

- Place the main subject off-centre and crop figures and objects abruptly at the edges of the frame.
- Flatten space: lay down unmodulated areas of colour bounded by firm contour lines instead of modelling with light and shade.
- Use a high or oblique viewpoint, steep diagonals and an empty foreground or sky as an active part of the composition.
- Favour tall, narrow or unusual formats derived from hanging scrolls and pillar prints.
- Sign with a compact monogram or seal-like emblem and keep lettering short, often in a small cartouche.
- Reduce waves, irises, cranes, bamboo and chrysanthemums to simplified silhouettes.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (defining)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (occasional)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Analogous harmony](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/analogous-harmony/) (characteristic)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (occasional)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (occasional)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (characteristic)
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (characteristic)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Calm & contemplative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/calm-and-contemplative/) (characteristic)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (characteristic)
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (occasional)

Avoids: Central symmetry, Horror vacui, Naturalistic depiction, Eclectic mixing, Straight photography

Palette: #f1e6cf, #22201e, #2b4c7e, #c8452c, #d9b26f, #8fa58a

Typefaces: Auriol (George Auriol, G. Peignot et Fils, 1901), Brush-drawn display lettering imitating Japanese calligraphy, Seal-like artists' monograms and vertical title cartouches

Known for: James McNeill Whistler (Peacock Room, 1876–77; butterfly monogram); Félix Bracquemond (Service Rousseau, 1866–67); Siegfried Bing, Le Japon artistique (1888–1891); Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Divan Japonais, 1893); Henri Rivière (Thirty-Six Views of the Eiffel Tower, 1902); Arthur Wesley Dow (Composition, 1899); Vincent van Gogh (copies after Hiroshige, 1887)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ukiyo-e.md) (1670–1900)
- Alike in its design choices: [Kinngait (Cape Dorset) Inuit Printmaking](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kinngait-print.md) (1957–present), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Taishō Roman & Lyrical Illustration](https://stylogeny.com/styles/taisho-roman.md) (1910–1940), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Belle Époque Lithographic Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/belle-epoque-poster.md) (1866–1914), 63% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Bengali Modernist Book Cover (Prachchhad)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bengali-book-cover.md) (1943–present), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Republican Chinese Book Cover Design (Lu Xun & Tao Yuanqing)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/republican-china-book-design.md) (1923–1949), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Santiniketan & Bengal School Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/santiniketan-graphics.md) (1905–1954), 60% alike

## Real works

- ["Myrane" et "Les Chapons" (programme for the Théâtre Libre)](https://clevelandart.org/art/2009.515): George Auriol, 1889, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- [Thirty-Six Views of the Eiffel Tower: From the Grenelle Bridge](https://clevelandart.org/art/2003.391): Henri Rivière; printed by Eugène Verneau, 1902, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- [Nursemaids' Promenade, Frieze of Carriages (four-panel screen)](https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.31): Pierre Bonnard; published by Molines, Paris, 1895, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- [In the Omnibus](https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.71): Mary Cassatt, 1890–91, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- [The Long Road (Argilla Road)](https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.1): Arthur Wesley Dow, c. 1898, The Cleveland Museum of Art

## Sources

- Gabriel P. Weisberg et al., Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art 1854–1910 (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, 'Japonisme' (metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm)
- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Japonisme”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/japonisme/