This absolutely incredible hand-colored poster promotes the kabuki theatre presentation being mounted at the Japanese Pavilion during the Paris 1900 World’s Fair. Not only are the vivid colors and diptych composition fascinating, but it’s also an intriguing design when placed into its appropriate historical context. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Japan was just starting to sow its colonial oats, as well as opening itself to trade with the rest of the world after centuries of isolation. Japanese prints had already become popular in Europe in the 1860s, and the term Japonisme was coined in 1872. But the Japanese Pavilion in 1900 allowed the country to display its art, theatre, and dance on a larger scale—and to a larger audience—than ever before. And prints were just the tipping point for European enthusiasts; performances by Japanese actress and dancer Sada Yacco would in turn influence the works of Loïe Fuller and Isadora Duncan. If Europeans weren’t already enthralled with Japonisme, they would be after attending this fair. Rare!
Two-sheet.
literature: PAI-LXXXV, 164