ANALYZING LATE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CENTURY ARTWORKS AND THEIR INFLUENCE FROM JAPANESE ART

Left Image; "Bamboo Yards, Kyobashi Bridge" -  woodblock print - c.1857 - Utagawa Hiroshiga 
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Right Image; "The Water Lily Pond" - oil painting - c.1899 - Claude Monet

Here is one of the more famous examples of Japonisme, where we can see Monet's influence from Japanese art, in particular this piece on the left by Utagawa Hiroshiga. Monet has taken a very similar, almost identical bridge and placed it in to his own setting. He was known to surround himself in beauty, as evident from his large collection of Japanese woodblock prints scattered around the walls of his home, from where he was also inspired to adapt his own oriental gardens to replicate those of typical Japanese culture. This particular comparison between these two works shows Monet's compositional takes from the piece on the left. The bridge is placed roughly along one of the lines of third, almost identical to that of Hiroshiga's piece. As well as this, the inclusion of the river as a focal point and 'leading line' in the composition with a slightly off-center viewpoint also adds to his portrayal of inspiration from Hiroshiga's piece.