Japanese art influence on Western culture - Essay Example

Throughout history, Japanese Art has had a significant influence on Western Culture. The exposure of Japanese to the economic opportunities in the West, and an influx of European philosophies, and culture into Japan have reversed the otherwise classic isolated Japanese artists. The debut of Japanese art and civilization in the West led to the coining of the term “Japonism,” which recognizes the influences of the Japanese art in the Western society. Genova indicates that Japonism was mainly promoted by the ukiyo-e form of art (453).

This paper explores the works of Japanese artists Hosoda Eishi and Ando Hiroshige and their influence on the Western culture. The Snowy Day, Nihon-Bashi (1840-1842) Ando Hiroshige’s Snowy Day, Nihon-Bashi, a woodblock print done in the early 1840s, highly influenced the American culture barely two decades after its production. The art stored in The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, inspired the works of James McNeill Whistler. Skeen avers that the American-born artist, based in Britain took after the Japanese, and his art, done in 1862, greatly resembled the former’s work (138).

The Japanese art contributed to the development of modern Western architectures, which were reminiscent later in the Industrial Revolution. The Japanese art’s depiction of the boat, rejuvenated the boat construction industry, and enhanced the construction of waterways such as the canals and bridges built in the West in the second-half of the nineteenth century. The River of the Heavenly Dragon (1833-1834) The Japanese art is a woodblock print that greatly influenced the widespread use of small water vessels in Europe and America.

Whistler’s The Punt (1861) is a replica of the small boat that was made in the likeness of the Japanese art’s impression of the vessel. The Hiroshige art influenced the growth of canoeing activities at the coast of most Western countries during the second-half of the 1800. The Punt substantially enhanced paddling activities on the West’s coastal waters in as much the same way as the Chinese dragon did in early 1800s, though the Westerners eventually turned it into sport. The Geisha Itsutomi of Hosoda Eishi (late 1700 to early 1800) The Geisha Itsutomi of Hosoda Eishi is believed to have had a significant influence on the Western culture of dressing in lengthy frock.

Replicated in James Whistler’s “The Princess in the Land of Porcelain” (1863-1864), Itsutomi’s tall, slim, and an attractive upright posture of a beautiful woman clutching a shamisen plectrum, was a unique attribute of a moral woman of the ancient Japanese society. The clear portrayal of the art in a limited palette, with a plain background appears to mirror the essence of an art that advocates woman decency in the early Western society. According to Skeen, most of the cities were grappling with the problem of immorality caused by the high rate of joblessness (138).

In light of this, the Japanese art rejuvenated the culture of conservatism and human simplicity in the wake of radical economic transformations in the West. Kawaguchi (1857) Fourth, Ando Hiroshige’s woodblock print referred to as the Kawaguchi (1857), influenced the Western culture, and most likely contributed to the design of James McNeill Whistler’s Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea (1871). The Japanese art depicts an attractive scene of the landscape, viewed from an aerial perspective.

The art influenced the Western society’s efforts to conserve natural resources, as the impending Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s threatened the existence such beautiful scenes (Skeen 138). The Hiroshige print, also captures the workers paddling their vessels up the river with logs towards the milling point. These human activities were later typical of the economic activities of the West, a few decades later. The West eventually embarked on proper exploitation of the rich forest resources for use in the paper industries, building and construction and