Thuringia: Show: Japanese woodcut and French avant-garde

Apolda (dpa/th) - Starting Saturday, the Kunsthaus Apolda is presenting a comprehensive show on the influence of Japanese woodcuts on the French avant-garde.

Thuringia: Show: Japanese woodcut and French avant-garde

Apolda (dpa/th) - Starting Saturday, the Kunsthaus Apolda is presenting a comprehensive show on the influence of Japanese woodcuts on the French avant-garde. The exhibition shows top-class exhibits from the property of the Scharf-Gerstenberg family, one of the most important private collections in Germany, the Kunsthaus announced on Wednesday. Works by the French avant-garde of the 19th and early 20th centuries would be shown, which would be juxtaposed with woodcuts by old Japanese masters. Motifs and choice of color as well as composition would have fundamentally influenced Western artists in their artistic work.

As the exhibition organizers explained, after Japan's economic opening in 1854, Japanese antiques, works of art and handicrafts came to Europe for the first time. Japan was represented with a stand at the Paris World Exhibition of 1867 and gave an insight into Japanese culture, which had become fashionable. The Japanese color woodcuts triggered a real wave of enthusiasm.

The show will feature works by more than 20 artists, including works by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as Suzuki Harunobu, Utagawa Hiroshige and Uoya Hokkei.