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How Japanese Art and Western Art influenced each other.

In 1865 the Japanese finally ended their 200 year isolation from the world and had re-established  diplomatic and trading relations with the western world. Japan was being influenced by the west in terms of clothing, art, science and adopted some of these themes and adapted them to their own culture. Many people flocked to the port of Nagasaki where western books and prints were being sold and new interesting techniques such as scientific perspective and chiaroscuro shading were introduced to the Japanese people. Unfortunately the Japanese had rushed too far to change their traditional ways and integrate the western cultures ways which put Japan in a state of crisis. In art there was a divide between artists because some wanted to keep the traditional values Japanese art and not convert or adopt western art while the other half adopted western materials and techniques on their paintings. 

While in the west appreciation for the Japanese's graphic art and objects had in-fluxed and could be bought from shops in Paris and everywhere during that time because of the increasing popularity of wood block prints and Japanese objects. The west was fascinated by the Japanese Wood block prints and the flatness and different linear perspective of their prints compared to the west's typical realistic style. The influence of Japanese art had created a Westernised movement of Japanese called Japonisme. 

Japan and the West: Artistic Cross-Fertilization - The Floating World of Ukiyo-e (Library of Congress). 2013.  [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/ukiyo-e/japan.html. [Accessed 21 May 2013].

The Meiji Crisis in Japanese Art - NYTimes.com. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/arts/28iht-conway28.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. [Accessed 21 May 2013].