Discuss American Interest in Design That Referenced Van-Western Cultures During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century

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During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century America started to be interested in design that referenced Van-Western cultures. America started to be interested in the Japanese art during the late nineteenth century after the visit of the commodore Perry to Japan. Japan had a new program of modernization and was interested in westernization. When she arrived on the Western stage ready to compete everyone started to be interested in his art, design and culture so Japan started to sell its traditional culture to the West. As Matthew C. Perry says “Western correctors had already scooped up much of Japan’s best art” and says that “even today here are more and better examples of eighteenth and nineteenth century Japanese art in Europe and America than in Japan”(p.221) People first couldn’t understand the Japanese art but everything changed after the expeditions. Thanks to the expeditions Japanese art started to reach many countries and they started to make commerce and develop markets especially in the United States. In the Centennial Japan’s full involvement amazed America. The Bazaar that took place made a big success by selling a lot of cultural art and goods America discovered new motifs thanks to Japanese art America embraced the Japanese art and idea as Matthew C. Perry says “Never before had a style or fashion been promoted so vigorously and never had admission to the select halls” of good taste “ been so unabashedly sold. Elite and popular art became aligned as never before or since” (p.235) So we can say that by looking to History we can see that Japan influenced the art and design of America. Morse’s phrase explains how much japan influenced America “at first so little understood modified our own methods of ornamentation until frescoes and wallpapers, woodwork and carpets, dishes and table clothes, metal work and book-covers, Christmas cards and even

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