Japomania is back in fashion – in fact it really never goes out of vogue.
Vincent van Gogh
Butterflies and Poppies | 1889
Oil on Canvas
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
How could it, when the artists and craftsmen of this island nation have given the world such uniquely beautiful treasures and indeed continue to do so?
Fascination Japan looks back to the dawning of the West’s passion for the aesthetics of the Far East, tracing how a thirst for the exotic and new developed in the 1860s and lasted until long after the turn of the century, contributing to the development of Modernism.
Astonishingly elegant and exotic everyday objects, exquisite textiles and most of all the vividly imaginative ukiyo-e – colourful woodcuts – not only conquered the European market, they also answered the strange yearning for an unknown culture.
Until January 20th at Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna, Austria
Image pictured above (Emil Orlik Japanese Girl under the Willow Tree | 1901 Colour Woodblock on Japanese Paper Dr. Eugen Otto Collection, Vienna)
