Art/France — Art/Japan (FNDS 1303)

Have you wondered how the exchange of ideas and images was possible prior to the digital revolution?  

This course focuses on cultural exchange in Japan and France during the second half of the 19th century. New technologies like photography, color lithography and ready-made art supplies allowed artists to explore their creativity in new ways.  This period also was a time of increased international travel, international expositions, thriving private art exhibitions, and a flourishing print culture; all of these elements facilitated the rapid spread of information and images between Paris and Tokyo. 

We examine this dynamic flow of culture and ideas through the study of texts, photographs, paintings (Impressionist/Yoga/Nihonga), prints, advertisements, and fashion. We will study how some artists appropriated motifs, but we also will examine how others were inspired to change the way they represented the world because of an encounter with art or artists from the opposite side of the world.

This course covers topics in the disciplines of Art History, History, Art, and Asian Studies.

Pictured left: La Japonaise (Camille Monet in Japanese Costume).  Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)1876.  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Pictured right: Empress Shōken (1849-1914) in Western Garb.  Wikimedia Common.

Who should take this course?

Students interested in Asian culture, international art, 19th c. history or how the exchange of ideas and images was possible prior to the digital revolution.

More about this course

Course number: FNDS 1303

Number of Credits: 4

Search UM-Dearborn Class Schedule to find out more.

Dearborn Discovery Core requirements met: Critical and Creative Thinking, Humanities and the Arts

Meet your faculty member: Susan Erickson, Professor of Art History

One of the benefits of taking a Foundations course is gaining a faculty mentor that can support you throughout your college career. Get to know Susan Erickson, faculty member for Art/France — Art/Japan.

Susan Erickson studied English and Music as an undergraduate.  At the graduate level, she first focused on European art and then on East Asian art at the Ph.D. level.  

Currently her research interests take her to East Asia where she travels on a regular basis.  

Have questions about this course? Email Dr. Erickson at [email protected].