This essay will examine the influence of Japanese woodblock prints on the work of Western artists. More specifically, this article will focus on the influence that ukiyo-e woodblock prints had on 3 artists, Belgian cartoonist Hergé, Canadian Haida indigenous artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, and Dutch post-impressionist painter Van Gogh. These artists were chosen because they are all Western artists but have varied backgrounds and were all clearly influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e prints. This topic was chosen by me because Japanese art and its influence on Western artists is something that interests me and which I have incorporated and inspired into my own works because it is something that I consider intriguing . I would like to explore and use Japanese art techniques and aesthetics more in my own work in the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Additionally, in my opinion, this topic is worth studying due to the fact that ukiyo-e woodblock prints had such an obvious impact on the work of many Western artists and it is important to consider that This may or may not be a case of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is considered a situation of adopting aspects of a culture that is not your own, especially without showing understanding or respect for it, which was and remains a major concern and controversy in the art world. (Cambridge English Dictionary, 2018) On the other hand, inspiration is the process that occurs when a person sees, hears or experiences something that gives them exciting new ideas or makes them want to create something, usually in art, music or literature. . (Oxford Learners Dictionary, 2018) For starters, the name Ukiyo-e means “pictures of the floating world” and it is one of many genres of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th century and into the 19th century . Artists who worked in this genre created woodcuts and paintings depicting characters such as beautiful women, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, erotic scenes, and settings such as settings of historical events Japanese or folk tales and popular landscapes or travel points. (Artsy, 2018) Some of the most notable Japanese artists in the Ukiyo-e genre were considered Ando Hiroshige, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Toyokuni III, and Keisai Eisen. (Artsy, 2018) Woodblock printing was originally used in the 8th century in Japan to disseminate texts, particularly Buddhist ones. In 1765, a technological innovation made it possible to create single sheet prints in a variety of different colors. (The Met, 2018) A name has been given to the enthusiasm for Japanese art and design techniques that swept over the West as trade with Japan continued in the 18th century: it is what it was called Japonisme. The Impressionist movement was most inspired by the Ukiyo-e genre and Impressionist works were obviously influenced by certain aspects of these prints, such as flatness, bright colors and realistic depictions. (Artsy, 2018) The 3 artists I chose were all differently involved in incorporating elements of Japanese prints into their art. First of all, Georges Prosper Remi, born May 22, 1907 and died March 3, 1983, was known under his pseudonym Hergé. Hergé was a Belgian designer and artist. His comics are drawn in the “clear line” style that he developed. Ligne Claire which means “clear line” in French is a style ofdrawing. It uses clear lines that are all the same width and without hatching, and contrast is also minimized. Shadows are generally defined. Additionally, the style often uses bright colors and a mix of cartoonish characters with a realistic background. All of these aspects combined result in comics drawn in a flat appearance. (Wikiwand, 2018) Hergé's most famous works are the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin and this series is considered one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. Today, his work still exerts a great influence on artists and comic strips. (Tintin Wiki, 2018) Second artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a contemporary Haida and Canadian artist, author and professional speaker. In the 90s he was introduced to Chinese brush techniques and after that he began to intentionally combine Haida and Asian art influences in his work and created an art form called "Haida Manga" . Portions of some of his Haida manga can be seen below. Haida manga is something that mixes symbols and frame lines originating from the North Pacific with Asian manga. Haida Manga presents a comical way to learn and get involved in fighting against prejudice and social divisions. (Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, 2018) The Last Artist Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 and died on July 29, 1890. Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter considered one of the most famous and important figures of the Western art world. Van Gogh created approximately 2,100 works of art, including 860 oil paintings, in only about 10 years, most of them during his last two years in France, where he died. These artworks include landscapes, still lifes, nature paintings, portraits and self-portraits, all of which are distinguished by their vivid colors and striking brushwork. (Acrylic Mind, 2018) When trade with Japan resumed in 1854, many Europeans fell in love with Japanese culture, despite it being completely different from their own Western culture, as they considered it new and exotic. Even countries that had not yet become trading partners with Japan had been waiting for a long time to see Japan shut down. (Smith, 2018) When the term Japonism emerged, Japanese products became fashionable, including fans, kimonos, lacquerware, bronzes, silks, and woodcuts. (The Met, 2018) Impressionist and post-Impressionist painters like Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin were swept away by Japanese prints. Additionally, when Japan opened up, the West was looking for new markets in which to sell their products, but also new markets in which they could purchase goods to resell in their own markets. All kinds of Japanese things have quickly become not only popular, but also a good investment for traders. (Weisberg, 2018). This was not the first time that the West took inspiration from other cultures to create art. The neoclassical movement and orientalism are examples of this. Additionally, the Japonism movement was responsible for some of the greatest changes to art in the West since the Renaissance. (Weisberg, 2018) Looking at the Impressionist movement, the changes in art after trade with Japan resumed are clear, as styles, techniques, colors, and even subjects changed in Impressionist art. Vincent Van Gogh greatly admired Japanese woodcuts and had a huge collection of them.them. In 1887, he made copies of two prints by Hiroshige, a famous Ukiyo-e printmaker. The first was The Bridge in the Rain, he painted the borders with Japanese characters he saw in other Japanese prints. The second print Van Gogh copied was Plum Blossom for which he also created a frame with figures from other prints. The main difference that can be seen between Van Gogh's copies of Hiroshige's prints is the difference in color. Van Gogh used brighter colors than Hiroshige in order to have greater contrast in the pieces. As with Hergé, the influences of Japanese prints are evident even in Van Gogh's later works which include clear black outlines and cropped images which are typical aspects of Japanese prints. An interesting quote from Van Gogh is: “I envy Japanese artists for the incredible clarity of all their works. It's never boring and it never feels like they're working in a hurry. It's as simple as breathing; They draw a figure in a few strokes with flawless ease, as if it were as simple as buttoning your vest. Blossom", which shows large flowering branches against a clear blue sky, depicts one of Van Gogh's favorite subjects: almond trees bloomed in early spring, which is why they are considered a symbol of new life and Van Gogh borrowed the subject, the clear and the bold. the outlines and placement of the Japanese print tree. (Van Gogh Museum, 2018) Additionally, Julien-François Tanguy, or Père (father) Tanguy, as Van Gogh called him, was a notable figure among Impressionist artists. owned an art supply store on Rue Clauzel and he frequently endorsed paintings as payment for the purchase of art supplies. The painting below was created by Van Gogh and the affection towards Tanguy is clear through this depiction. Tanguy is seen seated, facing the audience, with a benevolent smile and his hands folded on his knees. Art historians have highlighted the fact that Tanguy was placed in a Buddha-like pose and commented that "Van Gogh paid homage to the 'color grinder' by transforming him into a kind of Japanese sage, placed against a background filled with some of the countless brightly colored Japanese prints that the painter and his brother Théo collected. (Musée Rodin, Paris 2018) (GalleryIntell, 2018) Some artists admired the absence of a light background, and some abandoned oil painting techniques in order to emphasize the flatness of Japanese prints. Van Gogh borrowed the richness of color from Japanese ukiyo-e prints and ended up using the way the Japanese placed complementary colors next to each other. Additionally, Van Gogh moved to Arles, in the south of France, because he thought it was similar to Japan, unlike any other place in France. (Artelino, 2018) He said that one of the reasons he thought Arles was similar to Japan was that the colors of Arles seemed more vibrant than in Paris, just as they appeared in ukiyo-e prints in Japan. Van Gogh believed that the amount of sunlight there was more similar to that of Japan and that the intensity of the sunlight would create colors with a hue similar to those in Japanese prints. (Artelino, 2018)Next, looking at Hergé's work done in the "ligne claire" style, it is evident that he was also influenced by oriental art such as the woodblock prints of Hiroshige and Hokusai. Similarly, Western woodcuts and comics both use clear black outlines that are combined with consistent colors, without shadows or elements ofperspective to make images appear 3D. We know that Hergé loved Japanese prints and by looking at his comic strip The Adventures of Tintin we can see certain similarities between it and Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The light, thin black outline, wave style and cropped nature of the two images look almost identical. Additionally, the positioning of the wave, although reversed, is clearly similar. Even today, we can see that ancient traditional Japanese printing techniques have been used as inspiration for contemporary manga and anime. Japanese woodblock prints have a light black outline that is present due to the nature of the carving process. On the other hand, as seen in the works of Hergé and Van Gogh influenced by these prints, the black outline is a stylistic choice made by the artist and this shows how these artists made this choice in order to recreate the appearance of ukiyo-e prints. Finally, the artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas has been and is single-handedly carrying out an artistic and socio-political revolution. During the 20 years that Yahgulanaas lived among the Haida, he collected all the stories he heard and read that were part of his mixed heritage. He then began to feature the stories in his artwork. Later, Yahgulanaas found contradictory inspiration in Japan and the style of Manga. Going against the tide of "authentic Indian" art, he set aside cultural expectations by combining various genres and artistic mediums from quite surprising elements not only modern but also ancient, Japanese manga, Chinese brushstrokes, natives of North America, serious and comic influences. (Louise Look in News Culture, 2018) This influence of Japanese manga came from the trip of Yahgulanaas's relatives to Japan where they felt that they had not been subjected to the prejudice and discrimination that they constantly suffered in America from the North. On this continent, “all aspects of indigeneity have been attacked; everything that defines the community, the obvious informal governance, the language, it's bloody, violent and it's persistent today. For Yahgulanaas, associating himself with the Manga style was more of a political statement than a stylistic one. This essay analyzed the influence of Japanese art and culture on the West through Hergé, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Van Gogh. According to the researchers, there are four stages to influence, in this case, the influence of Japanese woodblock prints on Western art. These stages are considered discovery, appropriation, adaptation and recreation. Many of the artists considered for these stages have gone through most or all of these stages. (Walther, 2018) The first step is discovery (Walther, 2018), and each artist mentioned in this essay had their own individual discovery of Japanese woodblock prints. The 1867 World's Fair was the first to have a pavilion for the Japanese. (Hope Sewell, 2018) These artists not only appropriated Japanese woodblock printing techniques, but also, just like most Westerners of the time, also appropriated many things from the culture such as clothing . Plus, in a way, people loved Japan and saw it as some sort of utopia when in reality it was just another country facing the same problems as the others. There were people like Van Gogh who made copies of woodcuts and also people like Monet's wife, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and also many of Manet's models, who tried to imitate the Japanese in s 'dressing in their clothes. (Ives, 2018) Additionally, these artists also adapted the techniques..