See the attachment for the question

0

After Japanese ports reopened to trade with the West in 1868, a tidal wave of foreign imports flooded European shores. On the crest of that wave were woodcut prints by masters of the ukiyo-e school, which transformed Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art by demonstrating that simple, transitory, everyday subjects from “the floating world” could be presented in appealingly decorative ways.

Artists such as Mary Cassatt saw a fresh approach to the depiction of common events in women’s lives. 

Midnight: Mother and Sleepy Child by Kitagawa Utamaro (1790)

Maternal Caress by Mary Cassatt (1890-91)

Toulouse-Lautrec (41.12.18) adopted the exaggerated colors, contours, and facial expressions found in Kabuki theater prints (JP2822) in order to create his eye-catching posters.

 Kabuki Actor by Toshusai Sharaku (1794)

At the Moulin Rouge by Toulouse Lautrec (1892)

Edgar Degas avoided staging models dressed in kimonos and the conspicuous display of Oriental props. Instead, he absorbed qualities of the Japanese aesthetic that he found most sympathetic (1975.268.48): elongated pictorial formats, asymmetrical compositions, aerial perspective, spaces emptied of all but abstract elements of color and line, and a focus on singularly decorative motifs. In the process, he redoubled his originality.

The Tub by Edgar Degas (1886)

Essay by Colta Ives from the Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Read about japonisme in the following article: https://mymodernmet.com/japanese-art-impressionism-japonism/ (KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE ARE TWO PAGES TO READ)

After reading the article, answer the following questions:

1. In your own words, define japonisme?

2. In what ways did the ukiyo-e style of printing affect Impressionist art?

3. In your own opinion, in what ways do the works of Mary Cassatt imitate the style of Japanese woodblock prints? (Do not discuss subject matter!)

A controversy erupted in 2015 around an event at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston dubbed “Kimono Wednesdays.” This weekly event allowed visitors to try on a kimono similar to the one worn by Claude Monet’s wife in his painting from 1876, La Japonaise (Camille Monet in Japanese Costume).

The Japonaise by Monet (1876)

As photos emerged on social media, peaceful protests were staged inside the museum arguing two separate points of view. Some argued the event was a form of cultural appropriation, while others defended it as an example cultural appreciation. Ultimately, the museum cancelled the event, issued a public apology. More importantly, however, it held a public forum that brought academics, scholars, and museum professionals together around issues of race and decoloniality. During the forum, the museum self-reflexively asked how art institutions can be more accountable to their publics.

Read about the controversy on the following websites:

• https://hyperallergic.com/223047/the-confused-thinking-behind-the-kimono-protests-at-the-boston-museum-of-fine-arts/

• https://hyperallergic.com/223694/seeing-beyond-kimono-wednesdays-on-asian-american-protest/

• http://www.wbur.org/artery/2016/02/08/mfa-kimono-controversy

Answer the following questions:

1. What was "Kimono Wednesday"?

2. What was the museum hoping to do with the event?

3. What was the issue people had?

4. Do you agree with the protest? Why or why not?