The re-opening of Japanese ports to foreign trade in 1854, after nearly 250 years of embargo, ushered in an era of utter fascination with, and inspiration from, every aspect of the visual culture from that distant, unfamiliar island country. Japanese woodblock prints, ceramics, textiles, screens, and other objets d’art began appearing in European markets in the 1860s, soon drawing much attention in major exhibitions, markets, fairs, and salons. Japanese prints and objects increasingly provided Western artists images of a foreign, exotic land, as well as a new formal vocabulary, sense of spatial relationships, color palette, and appreciation for nature. French art critic Philippe Burty coined a new term for this Japanese-inspired aesthetic: Japonisme.
The earliest efforts in Japonisme consisted of copied motifs from Japanese prints, as can be seen in Félix Bracquemond’s (1833-1914) Service Rousseau tableware. Exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle to critical acclaim, this work is credited with the earliest use of Japanese print images in French decorative arts. His asymmetrical placement of the appropriated images on the plates also exhibits an understanding of the Japanese spatial concepts, and a shift away from practiced French symmetrical arrangements.
Other French decorative artists soon followed in adopting Japanese designs and formal principles, and what began as a superficial borrowing of motifs evolved into a true assimilation and adaptation of Japanese aesthetic concepts. Besides the work of Bracquemond, Japonisme in ceramics was skillfully embraced by Albert Dammouse (1848-1926), Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909), Théodore Deck (1823-1891), Edmond Lachenal (1855-1948), and Émile Decoeur (1876-1953), among many others in the Paris circle and beyond. Each of these ceramicists developed independent, interpretive, japoniste styles, emulating the spirit of their models and in the process, achieving a new, freer conception of painted decoration, vase shapes, stoneware glazes, and other ceramic techniques.
Japonisme’s popularity began to fade at the dawning of the 20th century as it was supplanted by the sinuous lines and whiplash tendrils of Art Nouveau. However, decorative and fine arts are nothing if not a continuum, and Japonisme’s lasting influence was felt in the genesis of concurrent and following art movements including Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and beyond.
Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat 1844–1910
Born in Limoges, Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat learned the art of painting porcelain at the School of Drawing in 1859 and later the Municipal School of Painting on Chinaware. He apprenticed in Bordeaux at Jules Vieillard’s atelier and afterward worked in several different faienceries in France before landing at the Poterie de Monaco, where he first became interested in stoneware. The turning point in his career was 1889 when he established his own studio at Bourg-la-Reine and in 1891 he presented his first wares. In 1892 he signed a contract to collaborate with sculptor and ceramist Alphonse Voisin-Delacroix and that same year their resulting stoneware creations were exhibited in Georges Petit’s gallery. The French painter and sculptor Jean Coulon then became his partner in 1893 after Voisin-Delacroix’s death.
By the late 1890s Dalpayrat had at least 44 employees working at his atelier and was enjoying great success. He was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, appointed to the Légion d'Honneur, and his porcelain and stoneware vessels were sold by the likes of Siegfried Bing. However, Dalpayrat would retire to Limoges in 1906 due to financial problems and abandoned ceramics for painting. He is remembered primarily for his ceramics, especially his pieces in stoneware and porcelain in deep red sang-de-boeuf called “Dalpayrat red”, which often appeared alongside other rich colors like turquoise, blue, and green. Dalpayrat’s legacy lives on and he is considered, along with Ernest Chaplet, Auguste Delaherche, and others, to be among the most important French ceramists from the turn of the 19th century.
Auction Results Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat
