Daoulas (Finistère). 19th-century Japonism holds such a place in our culture that we forget the long history of relations that the Land of the Rising Sun has had with the West. This is what Édith Joseph, curator of an exhibition adapted from a version presented in 2018-2019 at the Musée dauphinois (Grenoble) under the curatorship of Fabienne Pluchart, tells us. The Musée des Confluences (Lyon), the Musée national d’arts asiatiques-Guimet (Paris) and the Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de Lorient (Morbihan), among other institutions and collectors, have lent exceptional objects.
It was not until 1543 that the Portuguese reached the mythical island of Cipango, mentioned at the end of the 13th century by Marco Polo. While the Europeans were eager to sell firearms to the Japanese, the latter produced works of art of great beauty such as the Namban Screen byobu called “of the Portuguese” (between 1575 and 1600) describing the arrival of these “barbarians” in their country. They exported objects such as the Namban writing cabinet (between 1580 and 1620, where, for Westerners (or namban-jin“Southern barbarians”) all the art of lacquer, gold painting and mother-of-pearl marquetry. For their compatriots, the ivory carvers of the Edo period (1603-1868) slip among the okimono (statuettes) that they produce representations of Dutch people.
A historical and cultural story
A full suit of Japanese warrior armor (early 19th century)e century) was loaned by the Army Museum, which also holds a Namban Helmet (16th century) combining European and Japanese shapes and ornaments. Dating from the end of the Edo era, prints taken from samurai novels immerse the visitor in the atmosphere of sword films. A Japanese Matchlock Rifle (19th century) breaks the spell: it was firearms that settled the country’s internal conflicts…
After a passage devoted to religions – Buddhism, Shintoism and Catholicism – the closure of Japan to foreigners in 1641 is evoked. This opens an era of high culture illustrated by a magnificent norimono (palanquin) from the 18th century, a paper box from the beginning of the 19th century, netsuke or a picnic shelf. Imari export porcelain, destined for the West, was an exclusive product of the Dutch East India Company based on the artificial island of Deshima in Nagasaki. A tobacco pouch, a pipe and its case from the first half of the 19th century are reminders of the Japanese adoption of tobacco, brought by the Portuguese. A Mask of no (19th century) and prints evoke for us the beginnings of European Japonism.
The blockade of 1853 and the forced opening of the country marked the beginning of the Meiji era, materialized by the facsimile of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce between Japan and France (signed on October 9, 1858). Originals and reproductions of photographs, reports and commercial documents allow us to measure the impact of these new relations between Japan and France. Between 1864 and 1868, Ambassador Léon Roches saved French silk thanks to Japanese cooperation and reached agreements for the construction of the Yokosuka shipyard, built under the direction of the French naval architect François Léonce Verny between 1866 and 1871, while the Japanese marines were trained by Émile Bertin.
Close to Brest, Daoulas Abbey was meant to bear witness to the visit of Japanese squadrons to the French port at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1931, Prince Takamatsu, brother of the Emperor of Japan, visited the Naval School, the ship Colbert and the arsenal. A small section is devoted to the construction of Western-style lighthouses from 1876 thanks to the Scottish engineer Richard Henry Brunton. Japanese lighthouses are equipped with Fresnel lenses by the French company Barbier, Bénard et Turenne (BBT). From 1897, films were shot in Japan by the industrialist Katsutaro Inabata who studied in Lyon and became a friend of Auguste Lumière. The film An avenue in Tokyo, Shinbashi station (1898) by Tsunekichi Shibata is on loan from the Lumière Institute in Lyon.
A section on Japonism shows paintings by Jean Francis Auburtin, Lucien Seevagen, Maurice Chabas, Constantin Kousnetzoff and prints by Henri Rivière and Maxime Maufra as well as a model of a set for the operetta. The Land of Smiles made in 1933 by Maurice Marchand and loaned by the municipal archives of Brest. Elements of the “Rousseau” Service (1866-1875), designed by Félix Bracquemond, or the Vase with Handles called “with Wild Geese” (around 1895) by Antonin Daum allow us to measure the extension of this movement in the decorative arts. It also irrigates literature: a copy of Saint Genevieve by Paul Claudel illustrated by Audrey Parr (1923), dedicated to the Emperor of Japan, is thus lent by the Indivision Paul Claudel. But war looms again with the Young Boy’s Kimono with propaganda motif (between 1920 and 1945) glorifying the Japanese air force and navy. After this historical jolt, a renaissance opens for Japan and, for the West, a contemporary Japonism which is expressed under the names of Nintendo, Nikon, Canon, Sony, Miyazaki or Dragon Ball.
