this article

24 Ford • Ambivalent Attraction
Japan’s Quest for
Acceptance from the
Dominant Art-World Public
and the American- ArtWorld’s Acceptance of it
Alexander Hoare, University of Chicago
The 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago marks a high point
regarding the commercial and cultural exchange of modernized nations of that
time. The fair celebrated the advances and achievements of human civilization,
and had the intent of promoting inventive ideas and economic cooperation
between nations. These were the intended goals of the Columbian Exhibition and
th
other World Fairs in the late 19 century, but the fair also served as an arena for
countries to compare and evaluate the industrial, artisanal, and artistic capacities
and values of other nations. The hierarchy among nations during World Fairs was
particularly evident when examining the exhibits of fine arts. Eastern nations had
typically been excluded from the fine arts exhibits, but this changed during the
Columbian Exposition. Although Japan had attended many previous exhibitions
th
in the 19 century, Japanese arts were not included until they were finally
exhibited in the Hall of Fine Arts at the Chicago World’s Fair. The Japanese
government had been trying to improve their cultural reputation amongst
1
2
Western nations since they began modernizing their state. The Columbian
Exhibition’s treatment of Japanese art shows that the Japanese government’s
intention to gain cultural status was partially successful. The reception of
Japanese art during the Columbian Exposition proved to be extremely positive
among Western nations, and especially in America, which was emerging as a
global power in its own right. Favorable opinions of Japanese artwork in source
materials published during the fair indicate that the Western art community,
particularly in America, initially became receptive to Japanese aesthetics at the
1893 Columbian Exposition.
Previous scholarship on the subject of Japanese art at the 1893 Chicago
World’s Fair has emphasized the Japanese intentionality in shaping their exhibits
and the politicized nature of the fair. Previous articles by Ellen Conant and Judith
Snodgrass reflect this perspective. Both have demonstrated how specific pieces of
1
Warren Cohen,, East Asian Art and American Culture: a Study in International
Relations (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992). Page 29.
2
Judith Snodgrass, “Exhibiting Meiji Modernity: Japanese Art at The Columbian
Exposition” 31 (n.d.): 75–100.
25
Columbia East Asia Review
Japanese art and the preparations of the Japanese government expressed the
cultural message the Japanese hoped to express.
Snodgrass specifically
emphasizes the politicization of particular pieces of Japanese art (4 large incense
burners), and emphasizes the nationalist goals of the art and the exhibit in the
fair. Conant discusses the Japanese planning for the fair, going into detail about
their art, architecture, and the purpose behind the Japanese government’s
3
decisions about the exhibit. Conant also briefly mentions American preparation
for the Japanese exhibit and their reception and analysis of Japanese art, but only
4
explains a few particular responses to the exhibit as a whole. Aside from
Conant’s section on reception in her article Japan “Abroad” at the Chicago
Exhibition, historical understanding of the American and Western responses to
Japanese art at the Chicago World’s Fair has been inadequately scrutinized.
Primary and secondary research yields a more complete view of the Western
response, indicating that the American art-world was directly engaged in the
preparation of the Japanese Fine Arts exhibit during the Columbian Exposition,
and that the involvement of both the Japanese and American art-world publics
contributed to the varied yet extremely positive reception of Japanese fine art by
the American art-world public. Furthermore, by examining specific pieces of
Japanese art from the Columbian Exposition and the American analyses of these
pieces, it becomes clear that the American art-world’s definition of art became
more inclusive of different ideas and mediums of art which distinguished it from
the European art-world’s definition.
Fine Art and Art-World Publics
The nature of art at the turn of the century came into question,
especially after Japan’s repeated attendance and participation in the World’s Fairs.
Up until this point, the Western art-world’s definition of fine art in the 19 century
essentially amounted to the ideas developed on aesthetics during the
5
Enlightenment and early modern period in Europe. Art philosopher Stephen
Davies articulates that around this period, the term “art” usually applied to highly
specific fields, and that people considered a hierarchy of arts to exist. This
definitional hierarchy existed because of the dominant European art-world public.
An art-world public can be defined as the system or network of artists, art critics,
art historians, art collectors, and art consumers. This network makes the
distinctions between good and bad art, and shapes their art-world’s conception
th
6
and definition of art in relation to their own aesthetic paradigm. Europe
contained the dominant international powers in the 19 century, and the European
th
3
Ellen P. Conant, “Japan Abroad at the Chicago Esposition, 1893,” in In Challenging
Past and Present: The Metamorphosis of Nineteenth-Century Japanese Art (New York:
Columbia University Press, n.d.), 254–280.
4
Ibid.
5
Stephen Davies, The Philosophy of Art (Maiden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006).
Page 5.
6
Artur Danto, The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1986).
26 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance art-world public was the dominant art-world public. The Western European artworld placed fine art at the top of the aesthetic hierarchy and was defined as art
created for exclusively creative and aesthetic purposes. Below the category of fine
7
art was the category of decorative arts, and then handicrafts. A major aspect of
the distinction between these was the discussion of intent and function.
Decorative arts were meant to be pleasurable to the eye that had a function that
was secondary to its aesthetic merit. Handicrafts were functional pieces that
8
helped perform a task outside of their aesthetic value.
The proponents of European fine art argued that the primary function
of true fine art had to be its very existence as a piece of art. Europeans considered
the decorative function in a home, or direct physical uses of many Japanese pieces
9
of art to disqualify them from being fine art. The European art-world in the late
19 century argued that without being able to distinguish between functional use,
and art for art’s sake, people who made art that served other purposes were
merely artisans. Japan, before ending its seclusion, did not have a term or word to
10
distinguish fine arts from other decorative arts and handicrafts. The Japanese
populace inherently thought about art and craft in different ways than Europeans
th
11
as a result of their lingual and intellectual paradigm. Despite the lack of
categorization, the Japanese did practice a wide variety of artistic techniques,
some of which partially synthesized with the European and even the emerging
American art-world’s definition of fine arts.
12
These techniques, however,
13
emphasized simplicity instead of realism. Furthermore, the Japanese also used
ink instead of the textured rich oil paint of Western artists, and used wood, metal
or lacquer ware for sculpture instead of marble. These distinctions highlight the
fact that the techniques and materials used in the Western art-world and the
foreign Japanese art-world were completely separate. This gap began to close
during the Meiji Restoration in Japan, as more and more Japanese artists began to
7
Davies, The Philosophy of Art. Page 19.
8
Davies also asserts that art in the European art-world’s sense can be examined as a
complete invention of Enlightenment Europe instead of the end result of refining the
aesthetic nature of useful crafts. This view could explain why the European art-world did
not necessary see useful crafts as art.
9
Davies, The Philosophy of Art. Page 35.
10
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs (Los Angeles, CA: LACMA, Tokyo National
Museum, NHK, and NHK Promotions co., 2005). Page 74.
11
J. Thomas Rimer, Since Meiji: Perspectives on the Japanese Visual Arts, 1868-2000
(Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2011). Page 21, 410.
12
The American art-world was very similar to and based on the aesthetic principles of
the European art-world because of American art-world’s historical and ethnic ties to
Europe. There was a distinction, however, and the American art-world, like the Japanese
art-world was considered young and unrefined.
13
Doshin Sato, Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State: The Politics of Beauty (Los
Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, 2011). Page 1
Columbia East Asia Review
27
study art in Europe, and because the Japanese government carefully analyzed
these western artistic values when they attended World’s Fairs leading up to the
Columbian exhibition. Japanese art became more popular in America-- and even
Europe-- partially as a result of World Fairs, Japanese fine art had a destabilizing
effect on the American and European art-worlds as well.
Leading up to the Columbian Exposition, other World Fairs such as the
14
1862 London World’s Fair , the Vienna World’s Fair and the Philadelphia World’s
Fair, served to introduce Japan, Japanese arts, Japanese crafts, and the Japanese
15
definition of of these objects to European and American nations. Japan’s status
as an underdeveloped nation was quickly called into question as Japan began to
modernize, demonstrating massive progress at every subsequent fair. Japan
attended and presented exhibits during the World Fairs in Vienna and
Philadelphia. In both Vienna and Philadelphia, the Japanese government tried to
appeal to Western high culture by attempting to present their culture and their
art artifacts as distinct from those of the West, but also as highly advanced.
16
Japan’s exhibits featuring architecture, handicrafts , and decorative arts were
prominently featured and praised in Vienna and Philadelphia. The Japanese were
17
awarded for their handicraft exhibits and their architecture display at both fairs.
They entered no objects in the fine art displays, reflecting their categorization as
an underdeveloped nation in comparison to European nations and the United
States.
The involvement of Japan in these expositions sparked a popular
movement of Japonisme, first in Europe and then, after the Philadelphia World’s
Fair, in America. The Japonisme movement represented the popularity and
commercial viability of Japanese handicrafts, and the influence of Japanese
aesthetic styles on European and American art. Artists, particularly in France,
began to use patterns found in Japanese work, making simple prints of their own
based on Japanese Ukiyo-e prints.
18
The sale of their handicrafts in England,
14
Rutherford Alcock used his collection of Japanese artifacts to create an exhibit about
Japan during the 1862 London World’s Fair. These artifacts were ones that Alcock
asserted were relevant to depicting “the real” Japan (Yamamori 45 & 46). They also
served to introduce Japan as a nation to the world in Europe. A Japanese Tokugawa mission visited this fair and located Alcock’s exhibit of their culture. The Japanese
diplomats thought the exhibit was quite a poor representation of their culture. They did
not understand why Europeans thought certain objects were considered important
artifacts, while others were not emphasized or left out entirely.
15
A distinction between arts and crafts was not part of this early definition.
16
Handicrafts can be defined as an object created by an artisan that is decorative, but
emphasizes function. Decorative arts in contrast can be functional but their primary
purpose is an aesthetic purpose. Fine arts have a purely aesthetic and intellectual purpose.
17
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs. Page 22, 30.
18 “Awash in Color: French and Japanese Prints” Smart Museum of Art. The University
of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave. Chicago, IL, December 5th, 2012.
28 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance 19
France and particularly in America was also very successful. This shows that a
craze had developed in Western society and the Western art-world for Japanese
goods. This cosmopolitan exchange of goods, and even artistic ideas,
demonstrated that Japanese culture was having an impact on the West in the
realm of fine arts even before the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The rise in the
admiration and popularity of Japanese crafts helped pave the way for the
advances in artistic status the Japanese made at the Columbian exhibition.
Although the Japanese government and Japanese art-world had success
in the Vienna World’s Fair and the Philadelphia World’s Fair, the placement of
the Japanese exhibits was still located in the area designated for “non-developed”
nations. Europeans continued to characterize Japanese culture and art as
“primitive” and underdeveloped. The fact that no Japanese art products were
considered pieces of fine art in these expositions demonstrates that the European,
and even American, mindset persisted in portraying Japanese art as unworthy of
the most serious consideration. At the Philadelphia World’s Fair, Japanese
attempts at breaking into the realm of fine art received little attention, and their
pieces were not exhibited in the Memorial Hall that served as the fair’s fine art
20
museum. This indicates that Western nations, and even the United States, at this
point in history, disregarded Japanese arts and thought of these art pieces as
intellectually inferior. This prevalent ideology in the European and American artworlds demonstrated that despite the cosmopolitan exchange of Japanese art
influences in European fine art, Japanese art still did not ideologically and
aesthetically fit into the category of the Western art-world public’s conception of
fine art, because of the vastly different techniques employed, as well as their
emphasis on simplicity rather than complexity.
Japanese and American Preparation and Intention Leading
up to the Chicago World’s Fair Columbian Exposition and
the Hall of Fine Arts
The power dynamics and social hierarchy displayed in previous World
Fairs and the discrimination against the Japanese art-world by the Western artworld influenced the preparation for the arts display for the Columbian
exposition. The Japanese government assembled experts in the field of Japanese
fine arts such as Okakura Kakuzo and Tejima Seiichi, among other academics, to
assist in planning the exhibit. Okakura Kakuzo was the head of the Tokyo College
of Fine Arts in 1889, and had been a prominent figure in the emerging Japanese
21
art-world. Okakura was one of the first academics to create a narrative on the
development and evolution of Japanese fine arts while he was a lecturer at the
19
Yamamori Yukino, “A.A. Vantine and Company: Japanese Handicrafts for the
American Consumer, 1895-1920” (PhD Dissertation, The Bard Graduate Center for
Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, 2011), ProQuest/UMI.
20
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs. Page 31.
21
Dinkar Kowshik, Okakura (New Delhi: National Book Trust, 1988). Page 21, 22.
Columbia East Asia Review
29
22
Tokyo College of Fine Arts. Okakura’s view of Japanese art was not the only
major one in the Japanese art-world, but due to his background and knowledge of
both Western and Eastern art, he was chosen as a liaison of the Japanese art-world
23
in the arena of the American art-world. Okakura’s artistic ideology favored
natural evolution; he thought that the Japanese art-world should adopt
aesthetically pleasing ideas from all sources, incorporating it into their art in such
a way that artistic evolution occurred in a way that did not seem instant or
24
forced. Okakura did not want to force the incorporation of Western techniques
into Japanese fine art designs, but rather, he wanted the Japanese art-world to
naturally progress in a way that was natural for it regardless of Western or
25
Eastern techniques. Okakura’s vision for the Japanese art-world appealed to the
Japanese government because it sought to preserve Japanese style and
techniques, while also accepting aspects of Western thought and appreciation for
fine art. Under Okakura, the goal of the Japanese art-world was to force the
Western art-worlds to change the way they thought about art, just as they had
forced the Japanese to change.
Creating fine art acceptable to the European and American art-world
publics was considered to be a political imperative by the Japanese government
and the developing Japanese art-world because Japanese politicians thought that
cultural and artistic respect from the West would aid their goal of gaining equal
26
world renown to that of Western cultures. The Japanese government knew after
the Vienna and Philadelphia World’s Fairs that previous Japanese attempts in the
realm of fine art were not thought highly of by the Western art-world of the late
19 century. The Japanese authorities compiling the exhibit thought that adding
Western elements in technique and presentation, while building and improving
their own culturally distinct artistic techniques, would be an effective way to gain
27
intellectual and cultural notice in the modern world. Japanese artists began
experimenting with Western painting techniques, such as adding a realistic third
th
22
Ibid. Page 23.
23
Okakura defines the camps in the Japanese artworld as those who want to switch to
purely western style art, those who think Japanese art should continue to be completely
preserved, and those who think that combining western techniques with Japanese artistic
techniques to synthesize a new style is preferable. Furthermore Some Japanese artists,
such as Kuroda Seiki, Kume Keiichiro, actually went to Paris to learn western techniques,
trying to erase and replace their aesthetic knowledge. Some artists completely
transitioned to western techniques such as oil painting, while other artists still used
Japanese aesthetic techniques, emphasizing minimalism and simplicity while adding
more color and depth. These emphasize the techniques of the camps in the Japanese artworld (Kowshik, 24).
24
Rimer, Since Meiji: Perspectives on the Japanese Visual Arts, 1868-2000. Page 35.
25
26
Kowshik, Okakura. Page 24
Snodgrass, “Exhibiting Meiji Modernity: Japanese Art at The Columbian Exposition,”
75.
27
Rimer, Since Meiji: Perspectives on the Japanese Visual Arts, 1868-2000. Page 22,37.
30 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance dimension, to some of their art pieces. Japanese artists would even add these
techniques regarding depth and perspective to some of their lacquer paintings
and metal reliefs. These changes show that Japan was serious about achieving a
level of cultural equality. The Japanese government’s art delegation, under the
guidance of Okakura Kakuzo, cleverly began framing their paintings in the
conventional Western way. They even ventured to frame some of their lacquer
paintings, three-dimensional metal and wood reliefs, and cloth tapestries to
28
prepare for their Columbian Exposition exhibit. By adopting some aspects of the
Western art-world’s aesthetic practices, and more importantly, by presenting their
aesthetically distinct Japanese artwork in a manner that was also used in the West,
the Japanese exhibit organizers helped foster Western acceptance and
appreciation of Japanese forms. Okakura, Tejima, and the team working on the
Japanese exhibit presented Japanese fine art in the manner accepted by the
Western art-world publics so that the Western nations and art-worlds would be
more accepting of differing Japanese techniques and subject matter.
The Japanese government fundamentally believed that its place in the
world had changed, and that it had become a modern power by 1893. They wanted
to prove this to other nations, and tried to reflect this even in their decorative and
29
fine art production. The planning for the exhibits for the Columbian exposition,
particularly the art exhibit planned by Japanese government officials and artists,
was politically geared to impress both the government but and the Japanese artworld public. The government wanted to gain international respect and saw fine
arts as a potential method to do so. Additionally, the Japanese art-world public
wanted positive reception of their fine arts at the Columbian Exposition so their
art would gain prestige and, more importantly, ideological and aesthetic respect
equal to other developed nations, which would legitimize it as a rival to the fine
arts of other nations in terms of beauty and quality.
The American art-world public, like the Japanese art-world public, had
many politicized goals leading up to the exhibit in the Hall of Fine Arts at the
Columbian Exposition. American art was considered fine art by the Western artworld’s standards but it was also considered to be inferior to European art
30
according to the Western art-world as a whole. The schools of American art
were generally considered underdeveloped in comparison to the schools of art
developed in Europe simply because historically, more artistic experimentation
had occurred in Europe, and more artistic techniques that the Western art-world
31
considered appealing were pioneered in Europe.
During the Columbian
Exhibition, the American art-world wanted to demonstrate that it was culturally
equal to the European art-world. The motivations of the American art-world were
thus quite similar to those of the Japanese art-world.
28
29
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs, 75, 76.
Snodgrass, “Exhibiting Meiji Modernity: Japanese Art at The Columbian Exposition,”
77, 78.
30
Charles Kurtz, The World’s Columbian Exposition: The Art Gallery (Philadelphia: G.
Barrie, 1893), 13,14.
31
Ibid. This page describes Ives’ motives for promoting American art and reflects the
fact that European Fine art was considered more advanced.
Columbia East Asia Review
31
The American art-world and the American government saw the
Columbian Exposition as a grand unveiling of their power and culture to the rest
of the world, foreshadowing the boom in America’s economic, imperialist and
32
cultural progress in the early 20 century. To create, organize, and curate this
grand fine arts exhibit, the fair organizers in America hired Halsey Ives, founder
of the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts. Ives dictated the layout for
the nations with exhibits in the Hall of Fine Arts, and worked closely with
members from artistic delegations of all nations to forge an impressive
international exhibit. Ives was chosen because of his prominent role in promoting
art and art theory. Furthermore, he was chosen to shape the exhibit because of his
open-mindedness, which allowed him to appreciate all types of different art, such
th
33
as Japanese art. Ives recognized that Japanese art, was having an effect on the
European art-world and the American art-world even before the fair. This
demonstrated the increasing cosmopolitan exchange between Japanese and
34
American art. Ives’ openness to types of art outside of the European art-world’s
definitions and standards, his respect for the European art-world’s artistic abilities,
and his multitude of connections in multiple art-worlds made Ives aware of
conflicts, tensions, and debates in the dominant Western art-world. Furthermore,
this qualified Ives to help reconcile differences of opinion with other members of
the European, American, and Japanese art-worlds while forging the exhibit before
and during the World’s Columbian Exposition.
By examining this cosmopolitan exchange, Ives thought it was more
than appropriate for the Japanese art-world public to be able to display their
35
artwork in the Hall of Fine Arts while being classified as Fine Arts. The growing
prevalence of the Japanese art-world being shaped by Okakura Kakuzo, the
Japanese influence on Western artists, and the changing Japanese viewpoints on
art, all provided Ives with the legitimacy he needed to justify the controversial
Japanese exhibit in the hall of Fine Arts. Ives was known for promoting the
progress of American Art during the Fair, but Ives also worked closely with
Tejima Seiichi and other Japanese officials on the promotion and organization of
the Japanese exhibit. Ives promoted the idea that the Japanese should have
exclusive agency regarding the choices of their own fine arts exhibit. His one
stipulation was that pieces would have to meet the Exposition’s art division’s
36
standards. Ives’ organization of the exhibit, and the art-world public’s respect for
him, all factored into the preparation and positive reception of both the American
and Japanese fine arts exhibits in the Hall of Fines Arts.
In addition to Halsey Ives, the fair organizers consulted with famous art
historian Ernest Fenollosa, who was the foremost American expert on Japanese
32
Snodgrass, “Exhibiting Meiji Modernity: Japanese Art at The Columbian Exposition.”
33
Walter Barlow, Halsey Cooley Ives (St. Louis, MO: Ives Memorial Association,
1915), 26, 53.
34
Ibid.
35
36
Barlow, Halsey Cooley Ives, 24.
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs, 76.
32 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance 37
art. He was specifically asked to help choose some of the Japanese pieces to be
put on display. His involvement in the fair and his relationship with Okakura
shows that America was making many concessions to the Japanese art-world so
that their exhibits would be accepted and successful. Fenollosa, in conjunction
with Okakura Kakuzo, chose the best examples of Japanese art, which could
garner positive reception in America, and made suggestions to Okakura
38
regarding his art theory.
Fenollosa, Okakura, Ives, and Tejima worked together to synthesize a
Japanese fine arts exhibit that remained distinctly Japanese but also could meet
the Western art-world’s standards of taste and aesthetics. Ives, leading the
coordination of the Fine Arts exhibit, allowed certain exceptions for the Japanese
art delegation regarding the usual definitions and categories of fine arts used by
the Western art-worlds and the Hall of Fine Arts. He did this based on the idea
that the development of art in Japan was extremely different than that of art in
the West, and therefore should be regarded under slightly different standards and
39
categorizations. The Japanese and Americans working on the exhibit wanted to
emphasize the cultural differences of Japanese art, while also presenting high
quality aesthetic ideology from Japan that could also be appreciated in the West.
Delegates from the American art-world, such as Ives, and the Japanese
art-world, such as Tejima, developed the logistics in the categorization and
organization of Japanese artworks that did not match with standard Western
definitions. Tejima and Ives worked to create these classifications based on
40
similarities between Western and Eastern art techniques. Tejima suggested that
lacquer and ink paintings could be categorized in a way similar to Western
watercolors. He also suggested that three- dimensional wood, lacquer, and ivory
41
pieces could be classified in the same manner as Western sculpture. Finally,
Tejima suggested that three-dimensional pieces that exhibited excellent twodimensional painting could be displayed in the same section as the twodimensional pieces with the same qualities. The freedom Ives gave Tejima, and
Okakura in forging the Japanese exhibit demonstrates that the American artworld public respected the differences in Japanese aesthetic ideology and wanted
to better understand foreign aesthetic thought. Curiosity and mutual respect led
to artistic exchange that directly challenged conventional Western definitions of
artistic merit.
Japanese decorative arts were also examined and featured in the Hall of
Fine Arts after negotiations with the American administrative office occurred.
Though the inclusion of these pieces was still controversial, the popularity of the
Japanese fine arts exhibit and their government’s contribution to the fair called
for the inclusion of more Japanese art objects. Ives and the American arts
committee were in support of this expansion midway through the fair, even
though most of the additions to the exhibit were considered decorative arts, thus
37
38
39
40
41
Cohen, East Asian Art and American Culture: a Study in International Relations, 29.
Sato, Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State: The Politics of Beauty, 46.
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs, 76.
Conant, “Japan Abroad at the Chicago Esposition, 1893,” 268.
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs, 76.
Columbia East Asia Review
33
demonstrating that the American art-world public representatives during the
42
Columbian Exposition were open to the idea of accommodating Japanese art.
The space of the Japanese exhibition space tripled. Pieces such as Twelve Hawks
and Flock of Herons were moved from the decorative arts and manufactures
43
section of the fair to the fine arts area. This move in the middle of the fair
demonstrates that the reception of Japanese art as a serious school was positive
based on the demand for more Japanese art in the Hall of Fine Arts, and the
willingness of American organizers to comply. Furthermore, the definition of fine
art in America seemed to be changing during the fair, with the inclusion of pieces
formerly in the decorative arts hall. It also gave the Japanese art-world cultural
influence and prestige because their art, formerly considered decorative art,
achieved a high classification.
The involvement of Fenollosa and Ives in the Columbian Exposition and
the work they did, in conjunction with the Japanese art exhibit organizers, shows
that prominent members of the American art-world public were also preparing
and adjusting the Japanese art exhibition just as the Japanese were preparing, as
reflected in the articles by Conant and Snodgrass. America and Japan were both
trying to forge their own aesthetic identity and aesthetic values at the end of the
19 century, and the two seemed to be in the position to elevate the aesthetic
recognition and culture of the other. This emphasizes that, outside the realms of
world governments, the European art-world public was trying to maintain
dominance, while the Japanese art-world and the American art-world were both
trying to gain prestige and status. By attempting to gain recognition, the Japanese
and the American art-worlds were both trying to change the status quo of the artworld as a whole, allowing their own philosophies and perspectives to synthesize
with the dominant, prevailing Eurocentric viewpoint held by most art-world
publics.
th
Japanese Fine Art and the Reception and Appreciation of it
in America During the Fair
The positive reception among the general public in America, the
American art-world, and even European visitors of the Japanese fine arts
exhibition was evident in many publications about the fair’s exhibits. The fair had
over 700,000 visitors, including many members of American high society
involved in the American art-world, on top of the general public. Over the course
of the fair, many publications about the fair and its artwork circulated. These
works include but are not limited to The Book of the Fair by Hubert Howe
Banecroft; The Dream City, by Halsey C. Ives; Art and Architecture, by William
Walton; History of the World’s Columbian Exposition, by Rossiter Johnson; and
The White City Picturesque, by C. Graham. All of these authors were prominent
academics, art historians, or at least educated individuals knowledgeable about
the World’s Fair. These sources all carefully dissect the Japanese exhibition
presented by Okakura, Tejima, Fenollosa, Ives and the rest of the American and
Japanese art-worlds, and present an image of Japanese cultural innovation and
progress. Not all books about the fair (even one about fine arts written by Ives
42
43
Ibid, 78.
Ibid, 80.
34 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance himself) included a section on Japanese fine art, or the art of other non-Western
nations. Others only dedicated a small allotment of space to the Japanese exhibit
in their text, such as The Dream City, or mentioned the Japanese contribution of
art to the fair without displaying any art in the text like The World’s Columbian
44 45
Exposition Art Gallery.
This is not a reflection of the American art-world’s
reception of Japanese art but reflects what was popular and would potentially sell
during the fair. This does show a partial failure regarding the goals of the
Japanese art-world public, but is not reflective of the books that reference fine art
in the fair as a whole. Overall, the most prevalent texts on the fair have a dubious,
yet curious and positive characterization of specific pieces of Japanese art.
All of the sources contained positive comments about the Japanese
school of fine art, yet they also had different opinions regarding what aspects of
the Japanese exhibit should be emphasized. The History of the World’s
Columbian Exposition declares in its section on Japan that as of the Chicago
Exposition the appreciation and liking for Japanese art was finally “almost”
46
universal among Western nations. This source goes on to declare that the
Japanese exhibit had painting and sculptures of the highest artistic merit that
47
surprised western audiences. Furthermore, Rossiter’s analysis asserts that it is
evident that Japanese artists have trained in Western methods, yet Western
techniques do not eclipse or ruin the culturally Japanese nature of the artwork
48
exhibited. These general statements demonstrate that the American art-world
and even the European art-world were reacting and reflecting upon Japanese art
in a positive and serious manner. According to The History of the World’s
Columbian Exposition, Japan’s fine art was being taken seriously in the West even
if it wasn’t fully understood. Similarly, Banecroft declares in The Book of The Fair
that the Western art-world public expressed a lot of curiosity and interest
surrounding the Japanese fine arts exhibit. Banecroft’s overall analysis of the
Japanese exhibit as a whole was particularly surprising, because he compared the
49
Japanese artists’ mindsets to those of the French. In addition, Banecroft
compared a certain piece of Japanese sculpture to images and sculptures of
England’s Saint George.
50
The direct comparison of the Japanese artistic mindset
44
The comments on Japan in this volume were, however, extremely positive. This book
mentions the Japanese financial contribution to the fair, Tejima’s role in working with
Ives to choose the art, and the necessitation of categorizing/ organizing Japanese art using
different methods from that on the west. The section on Japan implies inherent aesthetic
artistic value regarding Japanese fine arts.
45
Kurtz, The World’s Columbian Exposition: The Art Gallery, 12.
46
John Rossiter, A History of the World’s Columbian Exposition Held in Chicago in
1893 (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1897), 413.
47
Ibid.
48
49
Ibid, 415.
Hubert Howe Banecroft, The Book of The Fair (Chicago: The Banecroft Company,
1893), 760.
50
Ibid, 761.
Columbia East Asia Review
35
to the mindset of French artists, and the comparison of Japanese subject matter to
subject matter popular in English art, demonstrates that the American art-world
public was developing deep respect for the Japanese art-world’s way of thinking
about art, as well as their pieces of artwork.
Walton’s analysis of the Japanese exhibit in Art and Architecture
acknowledged the inherent differences between the Japanese art-world public and
the American and European art-world publics; however, his review of the
Japanese fine arts exhibit was also positive. Walton discusses the Japanese
differences with the West in Art and Architecture stating:
In the not very distant day when we shall receive envoys and
contributions from the inhabitants of Mars (notwithstanding their lack
of an atmosphere, according to the latest dictum of the astronomers) to
our own international expositions, these exhibits will probably not differ
very much more from our own than do those of the Empire of Japan in
51
the present Chicago show.
Walton’s quote emphasizes that Western cultures differed from Japanese culture
in almost every conceivable way. He goes on to reflect that Japan has been
influenced by Western nations and that their art, despite using alien techniques
52
and having different categorizations, was “admirable.” In addition to this,
Walton begins to praise the skill of specific pieces of Japanese art, referencing
previous analyses of scholars such as Fenollosa. Finally, The Illustrated Art
Gallery Guide to the World’s Columbian Exposition refers to the Japanese exhibit
53
as “special” and “remarkable.” The Gallery Guide, like Art and Architecture,
emphasizes that Japanese art’s special classification represented American
accommodation, and commented on the significance of the acceptance of
Japanese art as fine art despite its differences with other pieces displayed. The
praise and accommodation reflected in these primary sources during the
exposition shows that Japanese art and the Japanese art-world were becoming
universally accepted over the course of The World’s Columbian Exposition.
Specifically regarding Japanese oil painting, watercolors and other
painting mediums, American books analyzing the art from the fair generally
express a positive opinion of the pieces. Art and Architecture by William
54
Walton, History of the Columbian Exposition by Rossiter, and The Book of the
51
52
53
54
William Walton, Art and Architecture (Philadelphia: G. Barrie, 1893), 86.
Ibid, 88.
Kurtz, The World’s Columbian Exposition: The Art Gallery, 12.
Art and Architecture, written by William Walton, and published by G. Barrie, was a
book published during the fair emphasizing the aforementioned subjects and the exhibits
at the fair. It was a large volume and had limited production, however, it would have
been easily affordable for art collectors, art buyers, and accessible to those heavily
involved in the American art-world public. In other words despite limited production this
volume had an impact on those educating themselves about art at the exhibition. This
volume allotted a whole chapter to Japanese art, and emphasized the evolution, progress,
and aesthetic value of the Japanese exhibit in the Fair Walton was careful to read the
36 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance 55
Fair by Hubert Howe Banecroft all present detailed critiques of many Japanese
paintings exhibited in the Hall of Fine Arts. Both of their works emphasize that
Japanese painting was distinct yet also aesthetically pleasing. In general, most
sources about the fair tended to favor Japanese fine art that had subject matter
that could be easily understood in a Western paradigm. This meant that analysis
of Japanese paintings in primary sources of the Columbian exposition tended to
emphasize pieces with animals or other simple objects as subject matter, as
opposed to pieces that were representative of Japanese mythology or history. One
particular image, titled Tigress, by Kishi Chikdo, garnered the attention of many
commentators in the American art-world (Figure 1). Tigress is a simple painting
depicting a fierce tiger sitting down, snarling at the viewer. It was a powerful
piece which borrowed some aspects of perspective from Western painting
techniques, but which overall, still felt distinctly Japanese. Art and Architecture
states that the piece is “striking”, while The Book of the Fair, and The History of
the Columbian Exposition both compliment the tiger’s fierce posture and facial
56
expressions. These sources also comment that the artist did extensive research
on the subject of his painting using four different tigers for reference. The
Japanese artist Kishi, Chikdo, according to these sources, became so engrossed in
57
his artistic process that he started to take on tiger-like characteristics. This praise
for Tigress and the narratives describing Kishi Chikdo’s artistic process emphasize
Western interest and positive commentary on Japanese paintings.
The multitude of sources from the fair also emphasized commentary on
landscape paintings such as Mt. Fuji by Namikawa Sosuke. (Figure 2) This
painting used techniques involving copper and cloisonné enamel characteristic of
Japanese art but not Western techniques. This type of painting was used
extensively on pottery, but for the fair it was adapted to two-dimensional surfaces
and framed like European oil paintings. The American art-world public enjoyed
Japanese landscapes and was very impressed by Namikawa’s piece. The piece Mt.
Fuji was featured as the only image of Japanese fine art in The White City
Picturesque, showing that it was popular enough amongst Americans in both the
general populace and the art-world that it was featured in a book that otherwise
almost exclusively emphasized Western exhibits and featured Western pieces of
analysis of influential experts on Japanese art during the fair such as Fenollosa (Conant,
370).
55
The Book of the Fair’s author was also the well known American historian and
anthropologist Hubert Howe Bancroft. He was well travelled, learned about their history
and culture of foreign nations such as England, France, Mexico, and Canada, and then
published books about them. He was chosen to compile this volume based on the academic quality of his previous pieces. The Book of the Fair, despite limited production,
was seen as the most inclusive and informative reference to the exhibits in the fair. The
nature of the guide presents an accurate interpretation of American cultural acceptance
and appreciation for the Japanese fine arts exhibit.
56
Rossiter, A History of the World’s Columbian Exposition Held in Chicago in 1893,
416; Walton, Art and Architecture Page 92; Banecroft, The Book of The Fair, 762.
57
Ibid
37
Columbia East Asia Review
58
art. The Book of The Fair comments that the Japanese use of color does not
usually “lend itself” to realistic landscapes, however “Fuji-san” is one of their most
59
successful and beautiful pieces. This demonstrates that Western commentators
enjoyed some of the alien techniques and depictions of images in Japan as long as
they were easy to understand for the Western art-world public.
In their writings about Japanese art, commentators also analyzed
Japanese sculpture extensively, particularly after the pieces were moved from the
decorative arts building to the Japanese fine arts exhibit in the fair. Japanese
sculpture received many praises from commentators because of its realism and
peculiar materials. Japanese sculptures reflecting humans and animals were
appreciated and analyzed, but certain pieces stood out to the commentators from
the American art-world public. Twelve Hawks by Suzuki Choichi, was initially
shown in the Manufacture and Liberal Arts Hall of the Columbian Exposition but
60
was later moved to the Hall of Fine Arts. This piece was made of cast bronze
with copper accenting, which was typical of Japanese sculpture, but was material
usually used in manufacturing in the West. (Figure 3 & 4) Rossiter’s History of
the World’s Columbian Exposition praises Choichi’s work for capturing different
61
poses, moods, and angles of different hawks so skillfully. Rossiter’s analysis also
praises the skillful use of bronze for the purposes of sculpture, articulating the
realism, aesthetic beauty and variety in the sculpture, despite its use of materials
62
that were not typical in Western sculpture. Banecroft’s analysis, in addition to
that of Rossiter, states that engravings and sculptures were a particularly strong
63
area of the Japanese fine arts exhibited. These analyses demonstrate that art
commentary in the American art-world was open to looking at Japanese objects,
initially classified as decorative arts, as serious fine art objects as well, despite
their differences from Western forms.
Another piece of Japanese sculpture that gained critical acclaim from
Western sources was Takamura Koun’s Old Monkey, which was a wood carving
depicting a Japanese monkey on a stump grasping what seem to be large eagle
feathers. (Figure 5) Art and Architecture’s analysis of Koun’s pieces demonstrates
the difference between what is appreciated in the Japanese art-world as opposed to
the Western art-world. Walton articulates that it would be laughable for a
64
European artist to “stake their reputation on such subject matter.” Despite the
criticism of subject matter, Walton admits that the realism and expression of the
sculpture is impressive and “larger than life.” Banecroft characterizes the piece as
58
C. Graham, From Peristyle to Plaisance, or, The White City Picturesque: Painted in
Watercolors (Chicago: Winters Art Litho Co., 1894), 139.
59
Banecroft, The Book of The Fair, 763.
60
Japan Goes to The World’s Fairs, 80.
61
Rossiter, A History of the World’s Columbian Exposition Held in Chicago in 1893,
415.
62
Ibid.
63
64
Banecroft, The Book of The Fair, 764.
Walton, Art and Architecture, 89.
38 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance having a powerful expression, and also as being a strong, skillful example of
Japanese sculpture.
65
Rossiter’s commentary refers to this piece as the “most
66
remarkable of the large carvings.” Walton’s analysis highlights the different
viewpoints regarding appropriate subject matter in the Japanese art-world and the
American/ European art-worlds. All three commentators, however, articulate that
the sculpture itself is extremely impressive in detail, dynamic composition, and
life-like expression. The reception of Old Monkey and Twelve Hawks shows that
commentators from the American art-world were receptive to sculpture using
mediums that, until that point, had not been associated with fine art in the West.
The use of wood and bronze casting, as discussed in the commentaries by
American scholars, is more than enough to demonstrate this. The American
commentaries, however, especially Walton’s, did articulate that there were distinct
differences between the ideologies of the Japanese art-world and the American
art-world which still had not reconciled with each other. The American adaptation
of their critique and analysis demonstrated that they were both accommodating
Japanese art into their art-world view, and were open to challenging their own
previously established boundaries of art that were based on the European artworld’s own boundaries.
Japanese fine art displayed in the Fine Arts Hall of the Columbian
Exposition clearly had a deep and long-lasting influence on Western, and
particularly the American, art-world’s opinion of Japan as a nation, and of their
art. For the first time, during the Columbian exhibition, the Japanese government
was able to display its art in an equal arena to that of Western cultures. In
addition to the equality in the type of space allotted to the Japanese exhibit in the
Hall of Fine Arts, the Japanese government’s arts delegation was given freedom
regarding the planning of the Japanese exhibit that they had never enjoyed
before, and they received help from prominent members of the American artworld. The Japanese arts delegation, in conjunction with the American exhibit
organizers, worked together to synthesize and promote the Japanese exhibit,
demonstrating preparation and accommodation coming from both the American
and Japanese art-worlds. Japanese experts were allowed to categorize their art
displays in any manner they saw fit, assuming the American committee found
the piece to have qualities that were worthy of inclusion in the Fine Arts Hall,
thus demonstrating the cooperation between Japanese experts such as Tejima and
American experts such as Ives. The dialogue created between the Japanese
exhibit organizers and the American organizers brought the very definitions and
classifications of art into question; but in general, different mediums and
techniques represented in Japanese art were, at least during the Columbian
Exposition, universally accepted by the American art-world. This acceptance and
even appreciation is evident from commentaries on specific pieces of fine are
from the fair. The Japanese art-world experts succeeded in persuading the
American art-world to acknowledge artistic styles and techniques exclusive to
Japanese art to be considered fine art for the first time. This was a noticeable
cultural victory for the Japanese government and the Japanese art-world, which
was vying for global respect and influence during the Columbian Exposition.
65
66
Banecroft, The Book of The Fair, 764.
Rossiter, A History of the World’s Columbian Exposition Held in Chicago in 1893,
414.
Columbia East Asia Review
39
The analyses of specific pieces of Japanese art provided in the sources
written during the fair emphasize that the American art-world was ready to accept
Japanese artwork as fine art. The analysis of Chikdo’s piece, Tigress; Namikawa’s
Mt. Fuji; Koun’s Old Monkey; and Suzuki Chokichi’s Twelve Hawks across the
body of works written about the fair, creates a distinct narrative that emphasizes
Japan’s differences and similarities to the fine art of Western nations. These
authors explain both the merits and weaknesses of Japanese fine art as they see
them. Most importantly, however, all of these commentaries officially recognize
the Japanese pieces presented in the Hall of Fine Arts as examples of fine arts
worthy of commentary, in the same manner as any American or European piece
of art would be considered worthy. The Book of the Fair, The Dream City, Art and
Architecture, and The History of the World’s Columbian Exposition all praise the
Japanese art exhibition. All of these publications name the pieces in the Japanese
arts display as “fine art”, verifying that the American definition of art had, at least
during the fair, expanded to be inclusive of Japanese art techniques and pieces
(even those that initially had been considered decorative arts, such as Twelve
Hawks). The Japanese had to defend their definitions of art again in Europe into
the beginning of the 20 century at subsequent World’s Fairs, but the American
art-world public had effectively accepted their aesthetic practices in full by the
end of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The American preparation and work with
the Japanese led by Ives, in conjunction with the enormously positive reception of
Japanese art in books about the fair, demonstrates that Japanese fine art was
respected and taken seriously on a global scale.
th
40 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance Bibliography
“Awash in Color: French and Japanese Prints” Smart Museum of Art. The University of
Chicago, 5550 S. Greedwood Ave. Chicago, IL, December 5th, 2012.
Banecroft, Hubert Howe . The Book of The Fair. Chicago: The Banecroft Company, 1893.
Cho Eunyoung, 1998. The selling of Japan: Race, gender, and cultural politics in the American art
world, 1876-1915. PhD dissertation, University of Delaware. Ann Arbor:
ProQuest/UMI. (Publication No. 9947914.)
Cohen, Warren I.. East Asian art and American culture: a study in international relations. New
York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
Conant, Ellen P.. "Japan "Abroad" at the Chicago Exposition, 1893." In Challenging past
and present: the metamorphosis of nineteenth-century Japanese art. Honolulu: University
of Hawai'i Press, 2006. 254-280.
Davies, Stephen. The philosophy of art. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006.
Danto, Arthur Coleman. The philosophical disenfranchisement of art. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1986
Graham, C.. From peristyle to plaisance, or, The White City picturesque: painted in water colors.
Chicago, Ill.: Winters Art Litho Co., 1894.
Ives, Halsey. The Dream city. St. Louis, Mo.: N.D. Thompson Pub. Co., 1893.
Japan goes to the world's fairs: Japanese art at the great expositions in Europe and the United States,
1867-1904.. Los Angeles, CA.: LACMA, Tokyo National Museum, NHK, and
NHK Promotions Co., 2005.
Kowshik, Dinkar. Okakura. New Delhi: National Book Trust, 1988.
Kurtz, Charles. The World's Columbian Exposition: The Art Gallery. Philadelphia : G. Barrie,
1893.
Rimer, J. Thomas. Since Meiji: perspectives on the Japanese visual arts, 1868-2000. Honolulu:
University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2011.
Satō, Dōshin. Modern Japanese art and the Meiji state: the politics of beauty. Los Angeles: Getty
Research Institute, 2011.
Snodgrass, Judith. "Exhibiting Meiji Modernity: Japanese Art at The Columbian
Exposition." East Asian History31 (2006): 75-100.
Columbia East Asia Review
41
Walton, William . Art and Architecture. Philadelphia: G. Barrie, 1893.
Yamamori Yukino, 2011. A.A. Vantine and Company: Japanese Handcrafts for the American
Consumer, 1895—1920. PhD dissertation, The Bard Graduate Center for
Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture. Ann Arbor:
ProQuest/UMI. (Publication No. 9947914.)
Figure 1
The piece Tigress by Kishi Chikdo shows a Tiger
with a fierce expression. The facial expression as
well as the patterns on the fur garnered all the
critical acclaim from American art commentators.
The print to the left is a recreation of the original
print. The original Tigress was lost after the
Columbian Exposition. The publisher for this
recreation is George Barrie. This particular image
was found at
http://www.artoftheprint.com/artistpages/1art_colu
mbian_expo.htm which is a sight that recreates art
from the fair.
42 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance Figure 2
This is Namikawa’s Work Mt. Fuji recreated in The White City
Picturesque. It was the only Japanese painting to be featured in the book.
Rossiter, Banecroft, and Walton all praise this work in their pieces. In the
book Japan Goes to the World’s Fairs the painting is featured in a western
style frame. This work was a cloisonné enamel painting, which was a style
of painting usually used on vases.
Columbia East Asia Review
43
Figure 3 and 4
The image to the left is one of the Twelve Hawks in
detail and the picture below is all twelve in their
display at the fair. The bronze hawks exhibit
Japanese sculpture techniques not featured in the fine
arts exhibits in fair before the Columbian Exposition.
The Twelve Hawks were all originally featured in
the decorative arts exhibit.
Hayashi, Tadamasa. Twelve bronze falcons
exhibited at the World's Columbian
Exposition, Chicago 1893 artist: Chokichi
Suzuki ; exhibitor and designer: Tadamasa
Hayashi.. Tokyo, Japan: [s.n.], 1893.
44 Hoare • Japan’s Quest for Art Acceptance Figure 5
This is Old Monkey by
Takamura Koun. Despite
wood sculpture being looked
down on as a medium by the
western art-world, the
commentators were very
impressed by the realism of
Koun’s piece.