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ALL, EVERYTHING ELSE Leslie Parke ALL, EVERYTHING ELSE Leslie Parke

HOKUSAI: A MASTER OF TWO WORLDS - HOW WESTERN ART SHAPED A JAPANESE ICON

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) stands as a titan in the world of art, his iconic woodblock print, "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," instantly recognizable across cultures and time.1 His career, spanning over eight decades, yielded thousands of paintings, prints, and book illustrations, showcasing his mastery of ukiyo-e and an insatiable artistic curiosity.1 Yet, a fascinating question arises when examining his work: how did European art influence Hokusai, an artist who lived during a period when Japan was largely closed off from the Western world?

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ABOUT MY WORK, ALL, EVERYTHING ELSE Leslie Parke ABOUT MY WORK, ALL, EVERYTHING ELSE Leslie Parke

THE COLLABORATION OF CLAUDE MONET AND GEORGES CLEMENCEAU: Creating the Grand Decorations of Water Lilies for the Orangerie

In dawn of the 20th century in France was marked by a vibrant and transformative artistic landscape, with the Impressionist movement having laid a fertile ground for the emergence of diverse modern art expressions.1 At the heart of this era stood Claude Monet, a foundational figure of Impressionism, celebrated for his profound ability to capture the subtle nuances of light and his dedication to exploring singular subjects through extensive series of paintings. Among his most iconic works are those depicting water lilies, a subject with which his name became intrinsically linked in the public consciousness.

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ABOUT MY WORK, ALL, EVERYTHING ELSE Leslie Parke ABOUT MY WORK, ALL, EVERYTHING ELSE Leslie Parke

BONNARD’S JAPONISM: A DANCE OF PATTERNS AND PLANES

Pierre Bonnard, a luminary of the late 19th and early 20th century art world, was deeply captivated by the aesthetics of Japonism, the Western fascination with Japanese art and culture. While many of his contemporaries explored the bold, graphic aspects of Japanese prints, Bonnard absorbed a more nuanced, intimate understanding of the style, weaving it seamlessly into his own unique artistic vision. His paintings and prints reveal a delicate dance with Japanese aesthetics, marked by specific and recurring elements.

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