拍品 130 莫內的日本版畫

關於日本版畫收藏，莫內的兩名傳記作家古斯塔夫．傑弗裡（Gustave Geffroy）和讓-皮爾．奧修德（Jean-Pierre Hoschedé）曾問及它們的來歷。藝術家稱自己首次收藏這些日本版畫是在1871年暫居荷蘭贊丹之時。不過，就在莫內辭世的兩年前，他曾告訴馬克．埃德，其首幅日本版畫收藏是自己於1856年在勒阿弗爾所買，彼時他年僅16歲。第二種說法存在疑點，因為在日本正式結束「鎖國」政策後，法國才於1858年10月9日與日本簽訂第一個商業貿易條約。當時首批登錄歐洲的日本版畫最有可能來自貿易興盛的橫濱港口，這個港口自日本打開國門後於1859年成為了日本對外貿易的官方樞紐。此外，19世紀60年代初，在歐洲除極少數版畫愛好者外，鮮有人認識日本藝術巨匠葛飾北齋、歌川廣重以及後來喜多川歌麿的作品。加之藝術評論家歐內斯特．切斯諾（Ernest Chesneau）在莫內作於1871年的《莫內夫人卡米爾．湯希爾坐在沙發上沉思》中追尋到了首個融入莫內畫作的日本元素，更是證實了第一種說法的真實性。這幅傑作現藏於奧賽美術館內，不僅融合了浮世繪版畫非對稱構圖的藝術風格，背景壁爐架上放置的扇子和瓷瓶，也反映了當時席捲全法的日本風潮。

「日本主義」這一名稱源於19世紀70年代，用以形容當時法國社會上日益普及的日本藝術品與裝飾品。1867年在巴黎舉辦的世界博覽會中，日本亦有參展，首次正式展出了日本藝術品與工藝品，該館一經展出就在42個參展國家的展廳中搶盡了風頭，吸引了眾多觀眾的眼球，「日本主義」熱潮為此被推到了全新的高度。早在此次博覽會以前，少數藝術專家已開始大力搜求與日本藝術及文化相關的知識元素，並從停泊在港口的貿易商船中廣泛收集日式紡織品、漆器、浮世繪版畫和瓷器。這些藝術專家包括夏爾．波德萊爾（Charles Baudelaire）、菲力浦．伯特（Philippe Burty）、埃米爾．左拉（Émile Zola）和龔古爾（Goncourt），旅行家西奧多．迪雷（Theodore Duret）和愛米爾．吉美（Emile Guimet），珠寶商昂利．韋威爾（Henri Vever）、雕刻家和畫家費利克斯．布拉克蒙（Felix Bracquemond）、卡魯斯．杜蘭德（Carolus Durand）、艾德加．德加（Edgar Degas）、方丹．拉圖爾（Fantin-Latour）、查爾斯．吉洛特（Charles Gillot）、愛德華．馬奈（Edouard Manet）、曼齊（Manzi）、昂利．蒂索（Henri Tissot），以及莫內。

彼時住在郊外的莫內一直密切關注巴黎的藝術動向。他寫給保羅．杜蘭德─魯埃爾 (Paul Durand-Ruel) 的一封信函可為此證明。他提到：「日本展的開放時間並非在週二，而是在明天的週一，明天我也會到場。」信中所指的是由路易．貢斯(Louis Gonse) 於1883年在佐治．皮提畫廊舉辦的回顧展。此回顧展展出的畫作及版畫數量高達三千多幅，其中大部分作品由巴黎私人藏家借出。除這些大型回顧展之外，喜多川歌麿和歌川廣重等日本藝術家的作品也相繼在較小型的展覽中出現，其中就包括在杜蘭德─魯埃爾畫廊舉辦的幾次展覽，均令莫內和他的摯友畢沙羅陶醉不已。畢沙羅曾向兒子盧西恩（Lucien）私下坦言：「日本藝術展著實引人入勝。歌川廣重果真是傑出的印象派藝術家。我、莫內和羅丹都對他欽佩，被他折服…這些傑出的日本藝術家使我們的藝術定位更為堅定。」(卡密爾．畢沙羅，引用於保羅．海耶斯．塔克著，《Claude Monet: Life and Art》，紐黑文，英國倫敦，1995年，第141頁) 。莫內可能就在那次展覽中，買下了喜多川歌麿和歌川廣重的版畫作品。

莫內一直在堅持豐富自己的收藏，至1926年去世時，一共藏有231幅由不同日本藝術家創作的風格各異的作品。雖說莫內尤為珍愛十八至十九世紀葛飾北齋及歌川廣重等人的作品，但他並不拘泥於此，同時收藏了其他 36位藝術家的版畫傑作。

莫內對這些日本版畫並未曾盲目模仿，而是仔細分析版畫的構圖，為自己的作品尋找新的靈感。

例如，葛飾北齋專注於描摹日本花卉一枝獨秀的藝術形態，以及歌川廣重《甲陽猿橋》（拍品編號130）中出色的構圖，或許曾對莫內有所啟發，使其決定以吉維尼花園中那優雅浮動的睡蓮為創作題材。

莫內珍藏的日本版畫還包括數幅描繪年輕女子日常生活的作品，畫中女子悠然自得，全然不顧創作者的觀察注視。其中鳥高齋榮昌的版畫傑作《扇屋的花扇外遊》（拍品編號135），或許曾是莫內的靈感源泉，啟發了他以妻子卡米爾為主要形象創作《日本女人（穿著和服的莫內夫人）》。此作中的卡米爾身著精緻和服，背後擺放著多把色彩斑斕的團扇，西方人特有的金色頭髮襯托著她白皙的肌膚，就這樣，一個迷戀東方神秘文化的巴黎時尚女子形象躍然紙上。

除呈現日本的生活方式外，日本版畫藝術家在藝術想像中崇尚自然的哲思對莫內也有著重要影響。從描繪四季更迭的《東海道五十三景》，到《六十餘州名所圖會》(拍品編號131)，常見於歌川廣重作品中的冬日景色一直以來都令莫內癡迷不已。它們對莫內的重要影響可見於莫內以冬日風景為主題的眾多畫作之中。莫內經常描繪冬季降雪的整個週期：從初冬細雪初落，到深冬遍地銀裝素裹，再到晚冬冰雪消融。在這些畫作裡，冬日迷蒙冰冷的陽光或遍灑在大地上，或反射於冰雪中，營造著多樣的光影效果。可見，日本版畫對時間推移的循環描繪，與莫內醉心創作系列組畫有著密切的關係。雖然《江戶名勝圖繪》（拍品編號132）及《東海道五十三景》（拍品編號31）兩幅傑作描繪的地理位置並不相同，但當將它們視作整體時，時間漸進之感一目了然，這也許給了莫內某種啟發，促使他將所創造的作品以系列組畫方式展出，並視為一以貫之的藝術整體。

克勞德．莫內家族珍藏

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

歌川廣重 (1797-1858)

已結束2017年11月26日

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歌川廣重 (1797-1858)
甲陽猿橋
簽名：廣重筆；蔦屋吉藏出版；約1842年
直幅二聯作：72 x 24.2 公分

吉維尼克勞德．莫內
吉維尼米歇爾．莫內 (繼承自上述收藏)
法國羅朗德．韋爾內熱 (受贈自上述收藏)
現藏家繼承自上述收藏

" I was flattered by your two letters, with the deepest admiration for Japanese art and a real appreciation for the Japanese. It gave me the greatest pleasure to receive your beautiful engravings."
C. Monet quoted in a letter to S. Yamashuita, Giverny, 19 February 1920.

"I had the good fortune to discover a batch of prints at a Dutch merchant's. It was in Amsterdam in a shop of Delft porcelain." Monet was haggling over an object without any success. (…) Suddenly I saw a dish filled with images below on a shelf. I stepped forward: Japanese woodblocks!"
M. Elder quoting C. Monet in 1871.

When questioned by his biographers, Gustave Geffroy and Jean- Pierre Hoschedé, Monet claimed that he first discovered Japanese woodblock prints during a stay in Zaandam in Holland in 1871. However, just two years before his death, the artist told Marc Elder that he had purchased his first print in Le Havre in 1856, at sixteen years old. The veracity of this second statement is doubtful, as the first commercial trade treaty between France and Japan was only signed on October 9th, 1858, shortly after the country formally ended their policy of isolationism, known as Sakoku. The first prints to make their way to Europe most likely came from the bustling port of Yokohama, which became the official base for foreign trade following the opening of the country in 1859. Works of Hokusai, Hiroshige and later Utamaro, were known only to a small circle of amateurs and enthusiasts in the early 1860s. The art critic Ernest Chesneau confirms the original version of the painter’s story by tracing the first emergence of Japanese motifs in the artist’s work to the painting Méditation. Madame Monet au canapé from 1871. Now housed at the Musée d’Orsay, the painting contains echoes of the a-symmetrical compositions of Ukiyo-e prints, while the presence of a fan and porcelain vase on the mantelpiece in the background offer a direct nod to the contemporary enthusiasm for Japanese objects that was sweeping the nation.
The term Japonisme was coined in the 1870s to describe the apparently ever-increasing popularity of Japanese artworks and decorative items in French society. Parisians saw their first formal exhibition of Japanese arts and crafts when the country took a pavilion at the Exposition Universelle of 1867, held in the heart of the French capital. Among the forty-two nations represented at the Fair, it was the Japanese pavilion which captured the imagination of visitors, driving interest in all things Japanese to a new high. Prior to this event, a small group of specialists had been gathering as much knowledge on the subject of Japanese art and culture as they could, collecting examples of textiles, lacquerware, Ukiyo-e prints, and porcelain as they arrived on boats. These included Charles Baudelaire, Philippe Burty, Émile Zola and Goncourt, travellers like Theodore Duret and Emile Guimet, jewellers like Henri Vever, and the engravers and the painters Felix Bracquemond, Carolus Durand, Edgar Degas, Fantin-Latour, Charles Gillot, Edouard Manet, Henri Manzi, Henri Tissot and Claude Monet.
Monet, then settled in the countryside, followed developments in Paris closely, as a letter addressed to Paul Durand- Ruel can testify: “The opening of the Japanese fair is not Tuesday, but tomorrow Monday. I will then come tomorrow”. Here, Monet was referring to a retrospective organized by Louis Gonse, in 1883, at the gallery Georges Petit, which included over three thousand paintings and prints, the majority of which were loaned to the exhibition from private collections in Paris. As well as these large retrospectives, smaller exhibitions were subsequently organized showcasing individual artists such as Utamaro and Hiroshige, including several at the Durand-Ruel gallery, which fascinated both Monet and his close friend Pissarro. The latter confided to his son Lucien: “Admirable, the Japanese exhibition.
Hiroshige is a marvellous impressionist. Me, Monet and Rodin are filled with enthusiasm (...) these Japanese artists confirm to me our visual position”. (C. Pissarro quoted in P. H. Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art, New Haven and London, 1995, p. 141). Monet may have purchased engravings by Utamaro and Hiroshige on the occasion of these exhibitions.
Monet continued to add to his collection throughout his lifetime, and by the time of his death in 1926, he had accumulated 231 prints by a variety of different Japanese artists. While he had a preference for the Masters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as Hokusai and Horishige, it was an eclectic collection, featuring 36 different artists.
Although Monet never slavishly recopied Japanese engravings, he carefully analysed the compositional qualities of the prints to give a new impetus to his own painting.
For example, Hokusai’s concentration on the isolated forms of different Japanese flowers, along with the structure of Utagawa Hiroshige’s The monkey bridge in Kai Province (lot 130) may have inspired Monet to turn his attention to the water lilies which floated in elegant gardens at Giverny.
Monet’s collection also included several Japanese prints in which young women are observed going about their daily occupations, unaware of the artist’s gaze. The Chokosai Eisho print, Hanagi of the Ogiya on an Outing (lot 135), for example, may have influenced Monet’s depiction of his wife Camille in La Japonaise (Madame Monet en Costume Japonais). Posing in an elaborate kimono against a background filled with a variety of colorful fans, Camille’s natural features - her blonde hair and incredibly white skin - emphasize the fact that she is a westerner playing dress up, a typically fashionable Parisian, fascinated by the exotic lure of the mysterious geishas.
Beyond their representation of the Japanese way of life, Monet was also greatly influenced by the manner in which the natural world held such a central place within the imagination of these artists. The winter scenes that populate Horishige’s oeuvre were of particular fascination to Monet, from the iconic cycle of views detailing The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido, to his Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces series (lot 131). These images were of such importance to Monet that the echoes of their influence can be detected across a large number of the artist’s winter scenes. Often depicting the full cycle of a winter snowfall, from the first flurries of soft white powder which transform the landscape into an otherworldly wonderland, to the dramatic moments in which the layers of ice and snow begin to melt and disappear, Monet’s compositions revel in the play of diffused, cold winter sunlight and its reflection on the snow. In this approach, there are obvious affinities between the great cycles of Japanese prints and Monet’s passion for working in series. Although prints from Views of Famous Places in Edo (lot 132) and Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road (lot 131) typically deal with different geographical locations, Monet may have been inspired by their sense of progression when viewed as a complete set, leading him to develop his own paintings with the intention of them being exhibited together and seen as an interconnected group of independent images.

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Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

歌川廣重 (1797-1858)

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歌川廣重 (1797-1858)

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