Japan and James

James McNeill Whistler was an artist during the Impressionist time, though he distinguished himself in his use of muted tones rather than the synthetic, bright hues so common to artists like Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. His paintings and sketches show snapshots of everyday scenes in which the viewer is meant to take their time with and experience. Though he spent much of his time in London, Whistler’s main influence comes from Japanese and Chinese art and their use of line and color – in particular, the ukiyo-e prints. Like Japanese art, Whistler strove to create a space of intense reality where composition and detail were pushed aside for his use of color effects to tell the story. This style is clearly felt in both Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket and Kiyochika’s Ikenohata Hanabi where the image is not so much about the composition or detail as much as it is about the mood and scene created through color choice. However, even in the absence of color, Whistler’s Japanese influence shows through in his own prints – in this case, his Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea shows remarkable similarities to Utagawa Hiroshige’s matted paintings. One of the most clear examples of how closely Whistler’s work had been influenced by Japan is his Princess from the Land of Porcelain where everything about her besides her European face mimics that of Japan prints – her kimono, the artifacts surrounding her, her elongated body, her pose, even in a way her hairstyle. Though Japanese art influenced many of the European artists of that time, it was arguably the strongest influence of all of Whistler’s work.

James McNeill Whistler

Cremorne Gardens, No. 2, 1870-80

Oil on Canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Part of Whistler’s Nocturne series, this unfinished piece is of the Cremorne Gardens near where he lived in London. With its muted tones and ethereal paint strokes, Whistler creates a mysterious night scene that invites you to look in without having to stop in one specific area. His use of color and indistinct lines does not blur what is meant to be seen, but rather pulls the scene together as one whole image that flows. Though the space seems a bit ambiguous, the overall emotion and image created is one that is meant to be experienced and shown as a snapshot of an everyday setting.

Utagawa Toyokuni

Picking Clams, 1791

Triptych of polychrome woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Toyokuni creates a landscape image of people in beautiful kimonos going about a normal activity of picking up clams off the beach. Like the Cremorne Gardens, No. 2, there isn’t one specific place that your eye is drawn to – you view the image as a whole. The colors all compliment each other and create a sense of uniformity and coherence, with no color being more vibrant than the others. Each group of people is going about their business, unknowingly being observed, much like the people in Whistler’s Cremorne.

James McNeill Whistler

Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket, 1875

Oil on Panel

Detroit Institute of Arts

Another one of Whistler’s Nocturne pieces, Nocturne in Black and Gold is of a fireworks display in the Cremorne Gardens. You can make out two transparent viewers that are looking up at the display, but they are not the focal point of the painting – again, we see Whistler’s motive to create an overall atmosphere to be experienced through his abstractness. They sky is lit up in what seems to be the time right after the fireworks explode where the sparkling remnants float back down to the earth.

Kobayashi Kiyochika

池の端花火 [or] “Fireworks at Ikenohata” (Ikenohata hanabi), 1881

Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kiyochika too explores the contrast of light against the dark through his image of fireworks. Made during a time of rapid modernization in Japan, he created this image to hold onto the tradition of ukiyo-e prints of firework celebrations in association with the old city. We see only a faint shadow of the people observing the fireworks, as we too become a part of the on looking crowd. Called a “kōsenga” meaning “light ray pictures”, the lanterns, fireworks, and reflecting lights on the pond seem to dance against the night sky, creating a dreamy and nostalgic feeling.

James McNeill Whistler

Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea), 1878

Lithotint with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground, second state of two (Chicago), printed in soft gray-black ink on pale blue laid chine mounted on ivory wove plate paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

An almost watercolor-like print, a lone figure pushes a boat along the Thames River. For this print, Whistler worked directly on the stone in applying his washes of ink to achieve the effects instead of using a transfer paper. This effect allowed for the misty feeling that blurrs the lines between water and air, which went beyond just the basic etching prints that existed before.

Utagawa Hiroshige

Shiraito Waterfall at Hakone, 19^th Century

Matted painting; ink and color on silk (Ukiyo-e)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hiroshige’s waterfall is a traditional ukiyo-e printed image, with only black ink used. The mountain landscape is made up of multiple simple brushstrokes of differing opacity and size. This is one of many of Hiroshige’s matted paintings that he created during the Edo period in Japan. Though simple in their composition, his skill and craft is shown in how much can be done with just manipulating lines and one color.

James McNeill Whistler

Rose and Silver – The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, 1863-64

Oil on Canvas

Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution

Dressed in a kimono and surrounded by Japanese artifacts, a western woman stands centered in a pose that clearly mimics in posture and elongated body the Japanese courtesans and geishas of the ukiyo-e prints. She is beautifully dressed and holding a fan, and even her hair seems to be up in a Japanese style, though she lacks the kanzashi hair ornaments.

Katsukawa Shunshō

Woman in a Black Kimono, 1783-89

Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The woman is dressed in beautiful, though subdued, kimono attire, with an elongated body type and pose so common in the ukiyo-e prints of courtesans, geishas, or lovers. Her hair is tied up with her head bent forward, and her body elegantly curves with her garments draped in the same manner. Originally known for his depictions of Kabuki actors, it wasn't until later that Shunshō become renowned for his images of beauties.