Japonisme in Britain - a Source of Inspiration: J
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Japonisme in Britain - A Source of Inspiration: J. McN. Whistler, Mortimer Menpes, George Henry, E.A. Hornel and nineteenth century Japan. Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History of Art, University of Glasgow. By Ayako Ono vol. 1. © Ayako Ono 2001 ProQuest Number: 13818783 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 13818783 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 122%'Cop7 I Abstract Japan held a profound fascination for Western artists in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The influence of Japanese art is a phenomenon that is now called Japonisme , and it spread widely throughout Western art. It is quite hard to make a clear definition of Japonisme because of the breadth of the phenomenon, but it could be generally agreed that it is an attempt to understand and adapt the essential qualities of Japanese art. This thesis explores Japanese influences on British Art and will focus on four artists working in Britain: the American James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), the Australian Mortimer Menpes (1855-1938), and two artists from the group known as the Glasgow Boys, George Henry (1858-1934) and Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864-1933). Whistler was one of the earliest figures who incorporated Japanese elements in his art but never visited Japan; Menpes visited the country and learned Japanese artistic methods from a Japanese artist; Henry and Hornel visited Japan and responded to Japanese photography mass-produced for foreign market. The purpose of this thesis is to consider how Western artists understood and accepted Japanese art as a source of inspiration. To emphasise and support my view that Japanese art was one of the sources of inspiration for the creation of European art, I will also discuss western influences on Japanese art in the second half of the nineteenth century since this movement, supported by the Japanese government, is a good comparison with Japonisme. The historical background of Japonisme will be discussed in chapter one with a variety of examples taken from decorative art, paintings and cartoons. These examples have been chosen from the works of artists who were associated with the Aesthetic Movement and interested in the improvement of Design, since in the early stages Japonisme in Britain was developed by leading figures of these movements. The breadth of the phenomenon is too wide to be included in any one thesis so theatre, music, architecture, sculpture or photography are not included. I will examine the essence of Japonisme by making comparisons between Whistler, Menpes, and Henry and Hornel. For the sake of consistency in these comparisons, I am going to concentrate on pictorial art. However, Menpes’ studio-house with its Japanese decoration is also going to be discussed since despite his wish to recreate an authentic Japanese interior, he did not understand the fundamental basis of Japanese architecture, so that the result was superficial. The artists have been chosen and discussed as follows. James McNeill Whistler, one of the earliest and most important figures of Japonisme , is going to be discussed in chapter two as an example of an artist who had never been to Japan but found profound inspiration in it. He did not simply imitate Japanese art but found hints and suggestions in it. His own style, as established in his series of Nocturnes, with their musical titles, shows how he was inspired visually by Japanese art. Mortimer Menpes, regarded as one of Whistler’s followers, is going to be discussed in chapter three as an example of an artist who visited Japan and received lessons directly from a Japanese artist. He went to Japan in 1887 and in 1896, and he met Kawanabe Kyosai on his first visit to Japan. He learned Japanese artistic methods and developed his own style by finding a common strand between Western and Japanese art. George Henry and Edward Atkinson Hornel are going to be discussed in chapter four as examples of artists who went to Japan and used photographs mass-produced for souvenirs and exports in Japan. These photographs, of a type now called Yokohama Shashin , were produced in the late nineteenth century for export or for the buoyant market in Japan for souvenirs for foreign visitors. Henry and Hornel acquired them while they were in Japan (1893-94) to aid their artistic creation. As one of the means of examining Japonisme , in chapter five I am going to discuss the Western influence on Japanese art, which started in the middle of the nineteenth century. At the time when Europe started to find an inspiration in Japanese art, European civilisation surged into Japan. The opening of Japan was a process of major political, economic and social change that took place rapidly after the arrival of Commodore Perry. As a result, various influences on Japanese life-style, clothing, buildings, education system and form of government spread into Japan from the west. Adopting Western science, industrial technology, economic and social systems was essential for Japan to avoid the colonisation that the other Asian countries had experienced. Learning Western art was included as a part of the modernisation of Japan, and eventually, it caused the establishment of Yoga , which was a new form of art. To examine the essence of Japonisme , it is useful to discuss Western influences on Japanese art, and the process of the establishment of Yoga , which eventually was Japanised by the beginning of the twentieth-century. In conclusion, I am going to summarise these chapters and compare these artists to show that Japanese art and objects were sources of inspiration, no matter if the artists had been to Japan or no matter if they had a conscious knowledge of Japonisme. Acknowledgement Many thanks are due to many individuals and institutions. I am most grateful to my supervisor Dr. Margaret F. MacDonald who has been constantly accessible and always ready with advice and encouragement. I would also like to thank to Mr. Paul Stirton who generously gave me advice throughout three years of my PhD course. I owe a great debt to Dr. Nigel Thorp, the director of the Centre for Whistler Studies and Dr. Patricia de Montfort and the staff of the Centre for Whistler Studies who always helpfully supported my research. The preparation of this thesis involved many visits to the Broughton House, the Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum, Kelvingrove Museum, the Burrell Collection, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Freer Gallery of Art, Yokohama Museum of Art, Ishibashi Museum of Art and Kume Museum of Art. Special thanks to Mr. Jim Allan, the Hornel Trust’s Librarian and Frances Scott, the Property Manager of Broughton House. In V&A, Anna Jackson of Far Eastern Department generously helped my research and gave me her warm encouragement. In the British Museum, I have received valuable help from Mr. David Penn of Japanese Antiquities. I would like to thank Jean Walsh of the Kelvingrove Museum, Vivien Hamilton of the Burrell Collection, Jennifer Melville of Aberdeen Art Gallery, Kenneth Myers of the Freer Art Gallery, Numata Eiko of Yokohama Art Museum, Mouri Ichirou of Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Yamada Satoshi of Nagoya City Art Museum, Curators of Ishibashi Museum of Art and Ito Fumiko of Kume Museum of Art. I am grateful to Mr. Nick Pearce, the Head of Department of History of Art and the Staff of the Hunterian Art Gallery, especially Mr. Peter Black who always helped me to have access to the prints in their collection. Thanks are also due to the staff of the Special Collection of Glasgow University Library. I would also like to express my special thanks to William Buchanan, Esther Dunber, Dr. Norman MacDonald, Dr. Frances Fowle, Dr. Rosemary T. Smith, Mr. Andrew|Stuart -Robertson, Joanna and Ian Meacock, Dr. Flavio Boggi, Mr. Tsunematsu Ikuo, Lucy Clark, Ewan Mundy, Helen Sutherland, Georgia Toutziari, Matsumoto Seiichi, Professor Mabuchi Akiko, Kigi Yasuko, Professor Miyauchi Hisamitsu, Dr. Kazuko Shiojiri and Yoshizawa Kyoko who have supported my research. Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my parents and my sister, and my son, Ryuta. Contents Volume 1. Abstract Acknowledgement Contents List of Illustrations i Introduction 1 Chapter One: Japonisme Introduction - Japonisme and its Background 8 Japonisme in Britain 19 Mass-Production and Design Improvement 24 Christopher Dresser 25 Arthur Lazenby Liberty 29 Japanese, Medieval and Greek Art: Burges and Godwin 30 Women and Costume 36 Conclusion 40 Chapter Two: J. McN. Whistler’s Japonisme Introduction 54 Compositions 56 Japanese Objects and ‘Subjectless Painting’ 68 Nocturnes 84 Conclusion 93 Chapter Three: Mortimer Menpes’s visit to Japan; The Influence of J. McN. Whistler and Kawanabe Kyosai Introduction 106 Japanese Subjects and Whistler’s Influence 108 25 Cadogan Gardens 114 The Influence of Japanese 123 Conclusion 130 Chapter Four: George Henry & Edward Atkinson Hornel’s visit to Japan and Yokohama Shashin Introduction 142 Yokohama Shashin 145 Life in Japan 147 Henry’s Japanese Subjects and the use of Photography 153 Hornel’s Japanese Subjects and the use of Photography 157 Conclusion 164 Chapter Five: The Establishment of Yoga as a new Art Form Introduction 173 The Westernisation of Japanese Art 174 Bansho Shirabesho & Kobu Bijyutu Gakko - European Art as a Technique 176 Mastering Technique and Seeking a Japanese Subject 179 Kuroda Seiki and French Naturalism as an International Style 183 Hakubakai and the move Towards Academism 188 Composition 190 Conclusion 194 Conclusion 203 Abbreviations Glossary Appendices A.