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Art Nouveau was officially established in 1895 and was particularly impacted by the reception of

ukiyo-e: the movement employed many components of Japanese art in order to create a fresh European

style (Meggs, 2011). An example of this can be seen in image 3 on page 4: a ukiyo-e print from around

1800 by Toyokuni is compared to a Cassatt piece from 1891. Separated by almost a century, in both

images, a woman is being portrayed during the routine activity of bathing: note the similarities in dress,

style and the use of detailed patterns. The tone of the pieces are also very personal: the theme of

sensuality in art was popularized with Japonism and much of Art Nouveau style work includes idealized

women in various states of dress (or undress in some cases; Meggs, 2011). This split screen image also

demonstrates the theme of beautiful women and the motif of intricate patterns that was popular in both

ukiyo-e and Art Nouveau.

Image 4: Left (4a), Woman Holding a Comb (1798), Utamaro, ukiyo-e. Right (4b): La Goulue a Moulin

Rouge-ban (1891), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, print.

Another notable European artist who was heavily inspired by ukiyo-e was Toulouse-Latrec:

particularly by the flat, bold colours, outlined figures and the theme of courtesans and nightlife (Meggs,

2011; see image 4 as an example). Latrec’s poster design for Moulin Rouge, which can be seen in image

4b, depicts a gentleman’s club with women entertaining; similar to ukiyo-e depicting geishas and

courtesans (Meggs, 2011). Occasionally in both Art Nouveau and ukiyo-e, violent scenes were also