Japonisme: The Fascination with Japanese Art and Aesthetics

Japonisme (derived from the French word for “Japan”) refers to the influence of Japanese art, design, and aesthetics on Western art, especially in France and the rest of Europe, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This cultural phenomenon began with Japan’s reopening to the West in the 1850s and 1860s after over two centuries of isolation under the Tokugawa shogunate.