Japonisme Highlights: Paintings and Ceramics from the Collection

Voorhees Gallery Entrance

Fourteen 19th-century French and American paintings and ceramics exemplify the powerful influence of traditional Japanese art on Western artists. This stunning selection from the Zimmerli’s renowned collection of Japonisme (European and American artworks inspired by the art of Japan) highlights the achievements of some of the key artists and decorative designers of the Japonisme movement.

Featured are several pieces from the celebrated 1866 Rousseau porcelain dinner service adorned with designs by Félix Bracquemond inspired from Japanese prints. The great success of the Japonisme-styled Rousseau service encouraged artists and craftsmen across Europe to create works incorporating Japanese motifs and aesthetics. Joseph-Théodore Deck’s tour-de-force ceramic figure La Japonaise (1867) and Charles Caryl Coleman’s Night Owl (1879) reflect the West’s fascination with Japanese subjects and styles. This display also includes ceramics designed by Emile Gallé, a founder of the Art Nouveau style, and the Bordeaux-based ceramics manufactory, J. Vieillard & Cie.

Organized by Christine Giviskos, Associate Curator of European Art