The influence of Japonisme on the American Impressionists and their circle, 1893--1915

This dissertation explores the phenomenon of japonisme in American painting in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Focusing on the American Impressionists and their circle as the group most directly affected by japonisme, it analyzes the wide variety of responses to japonisme by American painters of the period. As the title indicates, often it was japonisme rather than Japanese art that influenced these artists.; This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter One is an overview of what will be covered in the dissertation. Chapter Two provides context for the phenomenon of japonisme in America up to 1915. Chapter Three explores the roles that the French art colonies, Claude Monet, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler played in the positive reception of japonisme and its employment by American artists who studied in Europe. Chapter Three is devoted to The Ten American Painters, the group most associated with Impressionism in the period, and the character of japonisme present in each of their oeuvres. Chapter Four discusses the types of responses to Japanese art evident in the work of American artists who traveled to Japan in the period. Chapter Five discusses how knowledge about Japan, Japanese art and japonisme was acquired and disseminated within the United States. The Conclusion is a summary of the previous sections.; There are extensive Appendixes, including eight chronological timelines that are organized by date and by country. They provide historical context, list Western visitors to Japan (especially those related to japonisme ), show what was known about Japan and its art in the West through the print medium, list collections and exhibitions of Japanese art and japonisme, and provide information on the dissemination of knowledge of Japanese art and japonisme. It is hoped that these Appendixes will facilitate further work in the field, not only by art historians but anyone dealing with Japan's impact on the West, from the earliest contacts between Japan and the West to the end date of this study, 1915.